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08
Oct
Residents of Harrogate street urge parking action before a 'tragedy' happens
People living on a quiet residential street in Harrogate are appealing to the council to stop drivers parking dangerously outside their homes.
Rayleigh Road is an s-shaped street joining Hookstone Road with Wheatlands Road East, but its southern end faces Hornbeam Park, where a lack of parking spaces is forcing drivers to look elsewhere.
People working on the business park and commuters taking the train from Hornbeam Park rail stop to Leeds are parking on Rayleigh Road and neighbouring streets while they're at work, causing the roads to be lined with cars all day.
A loss of parking spaces due to ongoing building work at Harrogate College has apparently exacerbated the problem.
Neil Douglas, who lives on Rayleigh Road, told the Stray Ferret:
It is the parking of cars on the blind bend in Rayleigh Road which is becoming the biggest and most dangerous problem.
There were two near-miss incidents this morning where children were crossing the road near to the bend and meeting fast-moving traffic who were trying to beat the lights – but were in the wrong lane as they were having to get past the cars that had been parked on the bend.
The road is used a lot for children making their way to the Oatlands primary and infant schools, plus older children making their way to St Aidan’s and St John Fisher senior schools.
If this continues, then there will either be a two-car collision or, worse still, a child or parent knocked down due to irresponsible parking.
Mr Douglas said that parked cars sometimes reduce Rayleigh Road to a single lane for traffic in both directions, causing congestion and limiting parking options for residents.
He said:
The other day, there was a five-minute stand-off between a car and bin lorry wanting to go in opposite directions. Eventually, the car had to drive up the pavement to get past. It’s not safe.
The situation has apparently got so bad that residents regularly swap information about incidents via a WhatsApp group.
Mr Douglas first raised the issue with North Yorkshire Council in February 2024. On that occasion, a project engineer with the council’s highways and transportation division said in an email, which has been seen by the Stray Ferret, that he would arrange for some “surveys and observations to be undertaken over the coming weeks/months to establish the level and frequency of parking behaviour”.
The engineer added:
Generally, we need to see evidence of a continued/ sustained road safety concern before bringing forward proposals for waiting restrictions and we also need to consider what impact any restrictions may have (displacement of parking etc.).
Once we’ve completed surveys we’ll be in touch to outline any future steps.
But Mr Douglas did not hear anything more, and says he fears the situation will not improve unless some sort of restrictions are introduced.
He said:
Parents doing the school run are OK, but it’s the people dumping their cars while they’re at work that are causing the problem – they park up and stay all day.
There needs to be some form of disc zone, perhaps limiting parking to one hour, instead of all day. I would also suggest there is a strong case for double yellow lines to be installed on the road at the area of the bend.
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if it was aware of the issue, whether any "surveys and observations" were in fact arranged in 2024, and whether the council would consider a change in parking policy on the road, such as the introduction of yellow lines or a disc zone.
Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment, told us:
The safety of residents, road users and pedestrians is our priority, and we investigate all concerns that are reported to us.
A period of monitoring has been carried out on Rayleigh Road in response to safety concerns raised about dangerous or irresponsible parking.
This review has not uncovered a need for parking restrictions or disc zones to be introduced, but we will continue to monitor the situation.
But Mr Douglas said:
The situation seems to be getting worse – it's really come to a head in recent weeks. I’m afraid that it’s now only a matter of time before a tragedy happens on our road.
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