| Dozens of streets in and around Newbury are to become permit parking areas in the next few months – even though there are major misgivings about the pilot scheme in West Fields.
West Berkshire Council is preparing to introduce parking restrictions along the roads near St Nicolas’ School and the train station on January 9 2006. But the council is still worried that the permit system introduced in the Craven/Rockingham Road area isn’t being enforced properly. The council has asked for a traffic warden to be deployed by the police, but the force has put a Community Support Officer on the beat instead.
And the council has also been urged to scrap part of the West Fields scheme, such as in St Michael’s Road and Rockingham Road, as there appear to be too many spaces for residents, and not enough for shoppers and shopworkers. There are also concerns that cars are parking all day in Bartholomew Street’s delivery bays and not getting ticketed.
A report to the last town centre steering group said “there are still issues which need tackling.”
However, a five-day public consultation to ban non-residents from parts of East Fields is underway at Newbury Library until December 10 2005. | 
