Furious residents near Nottingham City Hospital have blocked their street with wheelie bins to prevent hospital workers from parking in front of their homes.
Residents on Sherwood’s Alderton Road have taken matters into their own hands, placing green bins in the road to prevent motorists from parking on either side of the road, on yellow lines, or across driveways.
Nottingham City Transport stated that the route for their Blue 40 bus has either had to stop early at Nottingham City Hospital or has been diverted on a number of days in recent weeks.
It should provide service to stops on Alderton Road, Longmead Drive, and Northwood Crescent. Residents on Alderton Road, on the other hand, say they’ve had enough and want the road, like the others, to have permits.
Jessica Landa, 29, said: ‘When it’s been busy, some cars have parked across our drive and we’ve not been able to get out, it’s just ridiculous. There have been yellow lines painted at the bottom of the hill, but it’s just moved the problem up the road.
‘We could do with this road having permits. Everyone around here has been ringing the council about it.’
Sharon Saunders, 45, said: ‘I can’t get out sometimes because of cars in the way. People around here park so stupidly, so I’ve put bins out to stop people parking outside my house, and they’re staying there.
‘I’ve tried to get on to my drive before, but I can’t get in because cars have been parked so close either side so I can’t turn in. I have to reverse and get really close to others to make it in.
‘Everyone still parks on the double yellow lines. There have been some accidents down there.’
Faye Goodman, 74, who has lived in her house for 68 years, said: ‘It’s a huge problem, I had a stroke and have a blue badge sign outside my house so that it’s clear for access and so I can get into taxis, but people still park outside it. People around here park anywhere.
‘I go to the shop sometimes, and if a taxi pulls up opposite, I can’t get across the road. Sometimes it has to stop in the middle of the road and then it holds up traffic, it’s a catch 22.
‘It’s been bad in the past couple of weeks especially. I think it’s bad that people are made to pay to park at Nottingham City Hospital, whether that’s staff or people visiting those that are sick.’
Two people in hospital uniforms were seen parking their cars and walking to City Hospital while Nottinghamshire Live was interviewing residents. A NCT bus was also followed, and it had to stop in the middle of the road to serve bus stops on Alderton Road, and it had difficulty turning onto Longmead Drive due to parked cars.
Anthony Carver-Smith, head of marketing at NCT, said: ‘We have had to curtail or divert our Blue 40 bus on a number of days now due to Alderton Road being inaccessible because of how cars are parked. This is a relatively new issue we are experiencing and support any initiative that will ensure our buses can continue to serve the Edwards Lane estate.’
The current parking policies, according to a union that represents NHS employees at Nottingham’s hospitals, are just a “cash-grab” on the workforce.
Both City Hospital and the Queen’s Medical Center will start charging for parking as of tomorrow. There will be automatic number plate recognition barriers in place, along with signs informing drivers how many parking spaces are still available.
A spokesperson for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the City Hospital, said: ‘We apologise to any residents who have been inconvenienced by staff parking on their streets. Staff who do not have a parking permit have access to a range of subsidised travel options including our free Medilink Bus, which serves all our hospital sites, or can use the staff travel to work scheme to get discounts on local public transport.
‘We do not condone any illegal parking and If legal offsite parking is absolutely necessary our expectations of staff is to always be considerate to those living there.’