Council U-turn on parking scheme

Permits costing £17.50 per car and and £53 for two would have been needed to park between 9am and 4pm had Rotherham Borough Council pressed on with the changes at Barnsley Road in Wath.

There were also plans to make neighbouring Vicar Road and Norton Road one way.

The proposals  — thought to have been prompted by the expansion of nearby Wath Primary School — were condemned when they were first suggested in September by Dave Travis of Dearne Motor Spares on Barnsley Road, who said it would “damage our business” and drive customers away.

But there was good news for the traders after the local authority decided to scrap both the permit and one-way plans.

Survey letters were sent out to 105 households and 46 returned.

Of those voting on the parking proposal, 21 were in favour and 22 against, while the one-way system was backed by a 28-15 majority.

Despite the narrowly-successful one-way vote, the council noted that two-thirds of those surveyed did not respond at all and just a fraction had supported any changes.

Mr Travis welcomed the outcome this week, although he conceded “a lot of residents were in favour” of the proposals.