Reading Residents Say No to New Visitor Parking Rules

Reading Borough Council have changed the visitor parking permits which local residents who live within the restricted parking zone receive each year. Each household use to receive 20 free permits a year ( 2 books with 10 permits). These permits were full day permits which were valid from the day specified until the following morning at 10am.

This has now been changed, each household will receive 1 book with 20 permits these are now called Half Day Permits. The restrictions are that your visitor will have to specify either am or pm for one permit. AM times are 8am - 2pm and PM at 2pm - 8am the following morning.

This means you will now have to specify when your visitors arrive to your home, if they arrive mid morning and left after 8am the following morning you would potentially use 3 permits for just one visit!

As each permit costs £1 this will be a charge of £3 per visit after 6 visits you would definitely have to order a new permit book (with 2 permits left from your free book) at a cost £20.

Even if visitors did not stay over night you would use on average 2 permits per visit. So each book would give you 10 visits!

No doubt visitors will be caught out after failing to leave at 8am ( if an additional permit isn't used, with the intention of leaving at 8am) and finding a parking ticket at a cost of £30! Leaving us all on edge due to having an overnight visitor.

Residents are allowed a further five (paid) books after the free permit book is issued.