A Falmouth councillor has resurrected the idea of a residents' parking zone in Falmouth.

Jayne Kirkham, who is Cornwall councillor for Falmouth's Smithick division, highlighted recent issues with first response vehicles struggling to make their way through roads due to parked cars obstructing their path.

She has also been sent a number of photos from people showing bad parking in the area - including one of a van that appears to show a van waiting to pull out of a side road but is, incredibly, actually parked like that. 

In a post on Facebook, the councillor said that "it seems timely to reconsider" the idea, which was first mooted in 2016 when the town voted against the proposal.

She suggested that the residents-only restriction could be at a certain time of day and could be limited to a set number per household.

Read next: New 100 per cent plant-based eatery to open in Falmouth

Mrs Kirkham is now hoping people will give feedback on whether they would like the idea looked into further. 

She said: "Parking in Smithick has got more and more difficult within the Victorian conservation area over a number of years and has reached the stage where some cars have been parked so that they obstruct others and there is concern that first response vehicles could not reach a house in parts of Smithick in an emergency.

"In 2016, a consultation was carried out for the whole of Falmouth to see if we wanted Cornwall Council to put residents’ parking zones in. Although Smithick residents were overall in favour, the town as a whole voted against, so it didn’t happen.

"However, the situation is now such that it seems timely to re-consider it.

"The design of any scheme is in our hands. The Residents’ Parking Zone could be the size of the whole conservation area of the Victorian terraces, or consist of smaller pockets. Residents could park anywhere within the zone.

Read next: Former staff behind 'community takeover' bid of Falmouth Princess Pavilion

"The residents-only restriction could be daytime, overnight or 24 hours. You could have two permits per household for cars registered to that address only.

"The first car would be £50/year and the second £75/year. You could buy visitors’ tickets. Businesses and schools would have different options."

More options on these can be found here

Mrs Kirkham is now asking residents to contact her at jayne.kirkham@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk to voice their views on the matter.

"The cost of the consultation and marking out the roads and signage is many thousands of pounds, so Cornwall Council are not keen to embark upon it unless there is an indication that local residents think it would be beneficial," she said. 

"Please contact me on jayne.kirkham@cornwallcouncillors.org.uk to let me know your views.

"Alternative solutions are looking at double yellow line parking restrictions on corners and back lanes. It takes months to go through this procedure, but it is an option."

Back in 2016, 35 per cent of frequent visitors surveyed said they regularly used on-street parking, whilst 61 per cent used off-street public car parks.

And of the Falmouth residents who responded to the survey, 65 per cent agreed that on-street parking conflicted with their needs.