PEOPLE power won the day as councillors were convinced to axe a proposed parking permit scheme in Westcliff.

During a packed meeting of the traffic regulations working party residents raised their objections to the plans that would have meant they needed permits outside their own homes.

Under council plans, residents living on Salisbury Avenue, Hamlet Court Road and Windsor Road would have all been required to get parking permits to park outside their homes between 9am and 5pm each day.

The plans were also initially going to include Albion Road, Rayleigh Avenue, Claremont Road, Carisbrooke Road, Rochford Avenue and Osborne Road, but council officers recommended these were removed due to objections from residents.

Last Thursday night the group met to decide on whether to go-ahead with the scheme, but chose to reject it entirely after residents called it a “waste of time and money”.

One said: “It has been reported widely that it is hard to sell houses while there are parking controls in place, a fact that concerns me and many of my neighbours.

“I believe the proposals have now been amended to exempt some roads from the scheme but surely the council can see how ludicrous this would be. It would make the parking situation far worse, resulting in the free roads being fought over day and night.

“This isn’t the first time a parking scheme has been proposed in this area, it wasn’t wanted then, and it isn’t wanted now. It is a waste of time and taxpayers’ money. The whole area should be left as it is without parking controls.”

Another resident said plans to limit the permit scheme to 9am until 5pm would make no difference because the parking problems are an issue in the evening, not during the day.

He added: “This scheme was rejected in 2011 and 2015, now we are being asked again. “How many times do we need to object. Have we got to put it into our diaries to object every four years?”

Councillor Paul Van Looy said: “Can we just dump the whole lot in the rubbish bin.”