Steps are being taken to improve on-street parking in St Albans.

At a meeting on Tuesday, January 7, St Albans District Council’s Local Services Scrutiny Committee heard that the Council acknowledged that there had been problems progressing requests for on-street parking restrictions.

It also heard that there had been issues processing Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs).

This was in part due to an increase in the number of requests received by the council for parking restrictions. This has risen from 36 in 2012 to 81 in 2013.

The council must follow a statutory process set out in traffic regulations before introducing parking restrictions via a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). This can be lengthy and will vary depending upon the complexity of the scheme, feedback received and the availability of funding.

To help speed up the process, the council is aiming to speed up this process by increasing staffing resources and improving communications with councillors and residents.

Members of the committee discussed various concerns including, the length of time taken to process traffic orders, the involvement of councillors in the consultation and design process and the level of public involvement.

As well as the effect of the high cost of car parking at the district’s railway station, which is one of the reasons for public pressure for more controlled parking zones.

Councillor Chris White, Chair of the Local Services Scrutiny Committee, said: “There has been a significant increase in the number of requests received by the Council to introduce on-street parking restrictions.

“These have not been dealt with as efficiently as they might have been. The Committee has looked into this. I am pleased that the Council is therefore increasing staffing resources to help process the 81 pending requests.

“Steps are also being taken to manage these projects more effectively, monitor progress more rigorously and to improve communication with residents and ward councillors.”

The council currently has eight Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) within the District and 27 permit zones within these CPZs.