14 Aug 2026
Fleetville residents are calling for urgent action to protect parking spaces which could be lost as part of a new housing development.
Neighbours in Burleigh, Cape and Castle Roads are concerned about the impact of the development of the ex-Jewson site on Burleigh Road, which will see the removal of 10 kerb-side parking spaces.
In mitigation for this loss, in their original planning agreement the developers allocated 10 new spaces on their site which can be used by existing residents. But residents have been told this will only happen if the developers give the land to Herts County Council and a Controlled Parking Zone is set up to restrict the use of the spaces.
With the development due to be completed soon, neighbours fear that the 10 kerbside spaces will be lost and the 10 new parking spaces will simply be adopted by the new residents when they move in, leading to residents of Burleigh Road needing to park in Castle and Cape Road and exacerbating the parking problem.
Now a campaign group has been formed by households in Cape, Castle and Burleigh Roads to put pressure on SADC to ensure the developers deliver on their commitments.
But there are also concerns about the introduction of a wider CPZ and the loss of more parking spaces to double yellow lines on the two corners of Cape Road into Castle Road.
Spokesperson Henry Gregg said: “It is completely unacceptable that the council has so far failed to hold the developers to their commitments in this regard and that this situation wasn’t planned for well in advance, with the relevant measures put in place to ensure that these new parking spaces would be made available to existing residents, as set out in the planning agreement, before residents of the new site moved in.
“There are nearly 40 homes on the new site and whilst every home has an allocated parking space, it is likely that some of the homes will have owners with more than one car and will therefore park on surrounding streets, significantly worsening the situation.
“To exacerbate things even further SADC has painted double yellow lines on the corners of Cape Road into Castle Road, taking out at least three car parking spaces on each side of the road. This goes way beyond the turning circle for large trucks and lorries and far beyond the double yellow lines at the end of Burleigh Road – even though the roads have the same turning circle.
“Finally, the council has launched an ‘informal consultation’ on implementing a Controlled Parking Zone in the area – but nowhere in the survey does it actually ask whether the residents want a CPZ – so it is impossible for residents to give their opinion on it. They are only asked whether the parking situation is a problem and how the CPZa should be implemented.
“We therefore do not believe this survey will be a true representation of local residents’ views and we would like to see a question asking whether we want a CPZ to be included in any formal consultation to follow.
“The consultation letter from the council says ‘the area’s proximity to the railway station attracts commuter parking’ but we have seen no evidence of this especially as the station is some 15-20 minutes walk away. This would only have an effect during the day and most of the problems are experienced in the evening when everyone comes home.
“Furthermore, it is not clear whether the new residents of the ex-Jewson site will have access to this CPZ or whether they will be restricted to parking on the site itself.
“Through the actions of the council and its inability so far to get the developers to deliver on their commitments despite being aware of them for years, removal of parking spaces through double yellow lines and potentially implementing a CPZ without even asking residents whether they want it or not, they are potentially creating a perfect storm which will lead to frustration when residents cannot park near their homes – and potentially have to pay to do so.”
Burleigh Road resident Florence Morgan said: “This is a failure of the council to uphold its own planning conditions. The development was given permission on the basis that 10 new spaces at the end of Burleigh Road would remain available to existing residents, specifically to off-set the 10 on-street spaces being lost.
“Residents have been raising this with the council for years, yet it has failed to ensure that condition is upheld. Now, rather than fixing that failure, it is proposing a CPZ which won’t create a single additional space or address the parking situation it has allowed to develop.”
Jaime Taylor, also of Burleigh Road, added: “It’s incredibly frustrating that the council are only now turning their attention to this parking situation when we repeatedly addressed it with them from the moment the development was proposed.
“In conversation with them now, many questions are left unanswered: will you ensure the developers fulfil their promise to allow Burleigh residents to use the 10 new spaces? Is a CPZ genuinely the only way to do this and why were we not advised of this much sooner?
“The underhand manner in which the consultation is being handled is prompting us to ask whether these 10 spaces are being used as an opportunity for SACC to extend their CPZ into our area and thereby raise more funds for the cash-strapped council. It certainly doesn’t feel like they are acting in the best interests of their residents.”
Clarence Cllr Joanna Meaden insisted parking problems are one of the biggest issues raised by local residents in ward councillors’ inboxes, but they wanted to carry out an informal consultation to ensure this was reflective of the whole community.
She insisted a CPZ was the only mechanism which could allow existing Burleigh Road residents to use the new spaces: “I promise I have gone around and around in circles and had months of conversations with officers trying to find a solution.
“Ultimately residents may decide a CPZ is too great a cost to secure those parking spaces, but again a parking consultation is the way to establish this.”
Henry added: “What we are concerned about is that the council seems to be using the parking spaces issue from the development to justify a new CPZ, but this will not solve the problem if there is no commuter traffic parking there or parking from other streets. We will just be charged to use the same number of spaces and make the council money without addressing the actual problem.”
