From car parks to resident permits, the City of York Council is making parking paper free with a new digital parking permit system.
The new service starts on 15 September with digital options for residents, businesses and visitors to manage their parking permits and penalty charge notices.
But it’s already attracted some criticism from residents who say they will not be able to tell if someone is parking in their street without a permit if nothing is displayed in the car window.
The Labour Group leader, Pete Kilbane, told YorkMix, that his city centre councillors were dealing with a number of concerns and he said if there was no increase in patrols then it would turn into a “cheater’s charter”.
He says it’s not fair to ask the public to police the issue and says he’s had no reply when he asked if there would be more patrols.
YorkMix has asked the deputy leader of the council, transport boss Andy D’Agorne, to comment. This is what he told us:
The council added that it has contacted all residents and customers in advance to make them aware that the changes are coming soon and to ensure residents who can’t access services online are supported through the transition.`
The council says that certain digital permits will be issued ‘same day’, removing the need to wait for a considerable time for their arrival through the post.
As soon as the digital permit is linked to a vehicle licence plate, residents and visitors will be allowed to park their vehicle in the relevant zone or car park.
Current paper parking permits should still be used and displayed as normal. Customers only need to apply for a new permit when theirs is about to expire.
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Having digital permits will mean that these will not be on display for everyone to see so it’s important that all members of the public keep this in mind when reporting potentially illegally parked vehicles.
Suspected non-permit holders will be able to be reported to the parking hotline, with tickets issued if it the vehicle is found to not have been authorised.
Any ‘scratch card’ visitor permits will remain valid indefinitely, so that no residents are negatively affected. However, no new ‘paper permits’ will be issued after the new system is introduced in September (unless otherwise specified).
Find out more about the system here.
This is what Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Executive Member for Transport, at City of York Council, said in the press release issued by the council: “The new digital parking permits will make parking hassle free and paperless, with new digital options to help residents, business and visitors access their details online.
“The new system brings a number of benefits for residents and businesses, including a hassle-free instant application response, the ability to make instant changes to permits – and for eligible permits, and being able to swap permits from one vehicle to another.
“This change will see us not only reduce paper waste but also future-proof the system and make accessing council services as easy as possible.”
Support will be provided to any residents who cannot access the online services. Please call the customer services team on 01904 551309, where staff can make an appointment for residents to come into the council’s West Offices.
In addition Acomb, Tang Hall and York Explores are offering a drop in service, during their normal opening hours, for anyone who would like support. The library service are able to provide support to those who need help to access online services either because they don’t have the equipment or simply require some help to access online services.
For any additional questions which the FAQs cannot support people with, please email [email protected] and parking services will get back to them as soon as possible. Or call the customer services team on 01904 551309.
The council added that due to extremely high levels of demand for council services at this time people may experience a longer wait time than normal.