Businesses have made a last-ditch attempt to stop new parking controls they believe will ruin their trade.

Transport chiefs plan to introduce controlled parking in and around Portland Road, Hove, adding more yellow lines and forcing residents to get permits.

Businesses say it will kill trade and make life more difficult for staff because free spaces outside their premises could be lost.

Collette Murphy, partner at Portland Road Dental Practice, is one of those objecting.

She said: "This proposed scheme will have a disastrous affect on our business.

"I feel like I am stuck in a communist state and have been stripped of all my rights."

She said her colleagues commute from outside the city and must drive.

Mrs Murphy said: "We have three dental surgeons and a hygienist. One dentist has to come from Shermanbury. There is no public transport to Hove from there at 6.45am.

"Our surgeons see about 30 to 40 patients a day and they can't simply walk out during treatments to move their vehicles."

Another shop owner, who did not want to be named, said: "We all fear parking will become a massive headache.

"It's already bad but putting in a controlled zone with permits for residents but not businesses and more yellow lines will mean the business community will lose out hugely."

The businesses hope the city council may follow the decision made by Eastbourne Borough Council earlier this year when it dropped plans for controlled parking in part of the town centre after pressure from residents.

Some business leaders in Hove feel their grievances over the scheme have not been listened to and claim a survey carried out in the area revealed that 90 per cent of people were against controlled parking zones.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We have consulted on this as much as is humanly possible."

Hove councillors have said they mostly agree with the proposals as long as they are carried out fairly. Councillor Jan Young said: "I don't particularly have a problem with the controlled parking system we've got in Hove."

Coun Young was among a number of councillors who on Monday night successfully called for a review of parking in Brighton and Hove during the next meeting of the council's overview and scrutiny committee.

Most of the eastern end of Portland Road and areas around Poet's Corner will be affected by the new parking scheme.

It comes after police announced a crackdown on illegally parked cars in Hove which they believe block access for emergency services and generally clog traffic.

The controlled parking scheme aims to eliminate double parking, which Mrs Murphy agreed was a constant problem in Portland Road.

Work is also planned to build a new roundabout and cycle lane at the junction of Olive Road and Portland Road.

Pedestrian traffic islands will be installed on both roads and a cycle lane created on Portland Road later this year.

A city council spokesman stressed it had addressed concerns from businesses, especially those from the dental practice.

He said: "Consultation showed a majority of respondents in the area in favour of a controlled parking scheme to prevent all-day parking in Portland Road.

"Ultimately, in the Poets Corner area, as in many other areas of the city, there are too many vehicles trying to use too few spaces.

"Our sustainable transport policies targeting all-day parking have proved popular with the vast majority of residents where such parking schemes have been introduced.

"All-day parking will be available in some roads south of Portland Road, within the current Westbourne parking scheme but on Portland Road itself we also have to be mindful of the need to encourage short and medium-term use of shops and other local businesses."

Wednesday, July 19, 2006