CAR owners in the Smithick area of Falmouth will not be getting a Residents' Parking Zone because the situation is so bad that even with one there is no guarantee they would find a legal parking space.

This was the view of Cornwall Council's transport and parking department after a request for a feasibility study into a Residents' Parking Zone (RPZ) was requested by its ward councillor Jayne Kirkham.

Coun Kirkham said would still 'pursue all options' after the study found that there would not be enough legal spaces, even for just residents because of the number of cars on the street.

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Coun Kirkham, who is also standing as a Falmouth Town Councillor in May, made the announcement on her Facebook page saying: "The saga goes on for the Victorian terraces in Falmouth Smithick'.

"So, basically there aren't enough spaces to guarantee that everyone who paid for a permit would be able to park in the Parking Zone," she said. "We are looking at alternative solutions.

"Could we provide parking for students at the university? Or residents overnight in local car parks?

"There don't seem to be any easy answers to this problem, but we will pursue all options."

The situation is said to have been made worse by the increasing numbers of students living in HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupancy) in the area and commuters and shoppers parking in the streets.

A previous consultation for residents' parking in the whole of Falmouth in 2016 had been rejected by residents when they voted against it. But she said the parking situation in the area had now become so extreme she had asked the council to look again at introducing a Residents' Parking Zone.

The council's transport and parking department did some work on surveying the area and it found that there wasn't even enough legal spaces for residents, let alone students and commuters.

"We have done a survey of the parking spaces available on the highway, and calculating it against the numbers of properties in the area, we have seen that there are not enough legal spaces on the road for all the residents," said the report.

"The figures are showing that there is only about half a parking space per property (or one space for half the properties), so even though we know commuters and students are adding to the pressure, there isn’t enough space to share it out even just for residents.

"With these figures we do not feel we can put a zone in place when it would mean that residents would be paying for a permit and still have very little guarantee of parking."

Mrs Kirkham told the Packet she was disappointed that there appeared to be no solution after three years of work on her part. She said the the original 2016 parking consultation in Falmouth did show a higher number of people in Smithick wanted a RPZ compared with other areas of Falmouth as it has particular issues.

"Large Victorian houses with lots of people living in them with cars," she said. "Commuters and shoppers parking here. We are looking at options of residents potentially being able to use Cornwall Council car parks overnight, alternative provision for cars at the uni maybe.

"There used to be provision at Ponsharden, but people didn't use it. I really want a more frequent, cheap and efficient park and float/ride in Falmouth so that fewer people leave their cars in Smithick in the day. I have been exploring that and the arrangements at Ponsharden.

"Purpose built student blocks generally have no parking and have clauses in tenancy agreements to prevent people bringing cars. They could be more strongly enforced by landlords. The uni promised to use the money raised by parking on their site to fund greener transport for the students. They have previously funded reduced bus fares for students. When the new cheaper fares come in across Cornwall there will be other options to use this money to help with transport for students as well, hopefully. Any other innovative ideas for solutions would be welcomed."