Erith Park first come first serve parking system causes chaos

The “first come first serve” parking system in Erith Park, along with a growing number of people who have moved to the area with vans and cars, has made the availability of parking spaces a hot topic in the area.

The issue now dominates the local Facebook group as residents complain of having to park far away from their house due to the lack of space.

The Erith Park neighbourhood features a number of modern houses and two large parking bays - but residents say there still isn't enough space (photo: Kiro Evans)

Locals believe the issue has become further complicated as control of parking is changing hands.

Orbit, the housing firm in charge of the neighbourhood, have appointed a new company to oversee it.

But a transition has also began to go from paper permits to e-permits, which may simplify the issue.

Residents told the Local Democracy Reporting Service of their experience finding parking in this Bexley area.

Barry Smith, 52, claimed he had to get up in the middle of the night because of the problem.

Parking spaces were filling up quickly in this parking bay, with residents saying trying to find a space after 4pm was difficult (photo: Kiro Evans)

He said: “Sometimes my wife, she starts at four in the morning at work, and she has to park [far away] in the streets.

"So I have to get up to walk her to her car, as she doesn’t want to walk [alone] at four in the morning. It’s that bad.

He added that “no one’s getting tickets at the moment” as the running of parking was “in transition”.

A resident called James, who did not want to give his second name, had just left his car in one of the few remaining free spots in the parking bay when he spoke to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said; “We have a issue with parking here. [Residents] want designated parking. We can’t even go out after 4pm.”

Mum Tayler Parish said that her children’s after school activities left her trying to find a parking space at the local supermarket.

She said: “I’ve got in at say 6 o’clock, as the kids have had something to do after school, and I’ve had to park over at Tesco and walk across.

"It’s across the main road and I had two small children at the time, so it’s not the best place to park.”

Orbit have appointed UK-PCM to manage their parking and the use of e-permits are being introduced over paper permits to simplify the situation.

A spokesperson for Orbit said: “There is limited availability of parking at Erith Park and for that reason, parking management was put in place when the development was first established to ensure the limited spaces were not being abused.

“We recently carried out a re-procurement of the parking management contract and appointed UK-CPM to manage the parking on our behalf and e-permits will now be used rather than paper ones, but our policy remains the same.

"Due to the growing number of residents with vehicles we do not have the capacity to issue more than one permit per household.”

Local councillor Nicola Taylor, who has been campaigning on behalf of the residents, said: “I have been working with residents and Orbit to help ease the parking pressures on the estate.

“I am disappointed that Orbit have not yet met with residents to address their concerns about the scheme and that suggestions to create parking spaces from unused amenities have been rejected.

"I am particularly worried about the impact on vulnerable residents in need of care as carers will struggle to find some where to park when they visit.”

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