A SERIES of parking restrictions will be introduced in Baildon as an attempt to deter commuters from parking on residential roads for most of the day.

New double yellow lines, residents’ parking spaces and two hour stay areas will be added on various streets around the village after councillors approved a number of traffic regulation orders.

The orders were discussed by Bradford Council’s Shipley Area Committee on Wednesday evening, and after speaking to residents, the Council agreed to tweak some of their plans.

Simon D’Vali, Principal Highways Engineer at the Council, said: “This is the second round of trying to get traffic management in Baildon right. We have spent a considerable amount of time consulting with people to try to get this right, but you won’t please everyone. There are always winners and losers, but we’re doing what we can to make people happy.”

He said they had to weigh up the parking needs of residents with the need to prevent cars from parking dangerously, and from commuters using the streets as a free car park.

He added: “Unfortunately, a lot of the roads are not fit for purpose. We are not here to knock houses down or to widen roads, so we have to compromise as best we can.”

Chair Councillor David Heseltine (Cons, Bingley) said: “We have to take consider road safety, the fact that people live here, and the fact that shops and businesses need space for customers to park. The problem with long term parking is you have people park up for the day, come back in the afternoon and head off. It doesn’t do anything for local businesses or residents. If we do get rid of that long term issue, it could cause other issues, but I hope these changes will help. You want people to be able to park up to pop in a shop, not to park up and then get the train.”

One resident pointed out that parking in the Ian Clough Car Park in the centre of Baildon only cost £1.50 for the whole day. They questioned why people were unwilling to pay this, and Cllr Heseltine jokingly suggested it may be because they were “true Yorkshire.”

After discussions with residents at the meeting, highways officers agreed to alter some of the regulations. That included removing plans for waiting limits on Perseverance Street, scrapping plans for double yellow lines on the residential side of Cliffe Road West, reducing the length of planned double yellow lines at the junction of St James Road and Centenary Road and removing planned double yellow lines from Springfield Road.

The changes will be implemented once the Council’s Executive approves the orders.