Parking reinstated after council review

Parking is being reinstated on a major town centre road, following a review by the local council.

As part of the Celebration Mile project in Bridgwater last year, parking on Salmon Parade was removed, and it was made into a one-way street.

However, parking is now set to be reinstated after a petition against the changes, set up by the Somerset Council's Conservative opposition group, was signed by more than 6,000 people.

The council said the changes come after a review of the regeneration scheme, with overnight works to restore the parking set to take place between 18 May and 20 May.

The council said it was also looking into the reinstatement of two-way traffic along Salmon Parade and East Quay.

Diogo Rodrigues, the opposition leader at Somerset Council, said it was a "win" for all those who signed the petition.

"We're pleased it's coming forward. It's taken a while, things do seem to run a bit slow with the council, but we are pleased that we finally got there in the end."

He said he had spoken to local residents and businesses who told him people were struggling to find parking nearby, including blue badge holders who said there was nowhere "to safely park near the shops".

Liberal Democrat councillor Mike Rigby, Somerset Council's lead member for economic development, planning and assets, said: "We have listened to the concerns of businesses and local people and as a result we are reinstating these parking places as part of a review of the project.

"We committed to doing this by early summer and we are ahead of schedule in this respect.

"We've always said the implementation of changes needs to be evidence-based and we will be sharing our findings with local stakeholders regarding the wider question of potential changes to the one-way system very shortly, having collected data and impact assessments on different scenarios," he added.

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