Parking ban for road near Royal Preston Hospital because 'bin lorries are being blocked'

The ban will be brought into force on Singleton Close in Fulwood, one of the few residential roads in the vicinity of the Royal Preston Hospital that does not already have some level of parking restriction in place.

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet approved the move last month after members heard that Preston City Council had “experienced issues” collecting rubbish as a result of parked vehicles.

They were also told that concerns had been raised by residents that the current parking situation – with cars often lining both sides of the road – was making it difficult for them to get on and off their driveways and causing an obstruction for other road users and pedestrians.

The width of the road means that parking encroaches on each of the pavements, leaving just enough room for a single vehicle to pass down the middle of the route.

County councillors agreed to introduce a ‘no waiting’ rule between 8am and 5pm on weekdays, as of a date yet to be published. That mirrors restrictions on some other streets surrounding the Sharoe Green Lane hospital.

However, a single objection was lodged to the plans over fears that the parking prohibition would cause property prices on the road to drop.

The claim was made in response to a public consultation into the proposal and included a suggestion that waiting instead be limited to two hours, with no return allowed for a fixed period. That is the rule currently in place on roads including parts of nearby Heversham Avenue.

But County Hall highways officers said that site visits undertaken “on different days and at different times of the day” had corroborated the concerns raised by locals.

The proposed changes would, they said, “remove obstructive parking, improving access for deliveries to the residential properties and assisting with the general movement of traffic”.

Elsewhere in Fulwood, ‘no waiting at any time’ restrictions will be introduced – completely prohibiting parking – on the A6, Garstang Road, at its junctions with Highgate Avenue and The Triangle. Cabinet members were told that vehicles – often parked on the kerbside – were impeding the sightlines of drivers turning out of the two side roads and onto the busy main route.

The new rules in Preston were amongst a raft of restrictions approved across Lancashire – in Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale and West Lancashire – which attracted varying degrees of opposition and support during public consultations.