Locals in favour of plans for Ashley Down railway station but strongly request RPZ

Residents are concerned plans for a new train station in Bristol will increase anti-social parking on their streets.

Ashley Down is one of three new stations to be built as part of the MetroWest Phase Two project which will see a passenger service return to the Henbury line for the first time in decades.

But residents in Ashley Down Hill - which is known for heavy congestion and idling street parking - are worried about the number of commuters the new services will bring into the area and fear current parking issues will worsen.

Chris Ge is in favour of the new railway plans but he said: "The roads around will need a residents parking scheme in place, otherwise it will just turn into another commuter park and ride."

Jacquelyn Haskins agrees more public transport is needed in Bristol but "We do need residents' parking scheme (RPS) as well as a new station."

“Chesterfield Road has been turned into a car park since Montpelier had its RPS, now everyone comes up to the hill to park,” she adds.

People living in the area say they struggle to find parking spaces outside of their homes because of non-residential vehicles and anti-social parking.

Chesterfield Road (Shashana Brown)

For Nicola Harwin, street parking is a major concern.

“There’s already a problem with people parking and then taking the bus or walking into the centre," she said. 

Another resident added: "The planned MetroWest rail station makes a residential parking scheme even more necessary to deter day time parking in Ashley Down and St Andrews".

The residents claim Bristol City Council has not done anything to address the existing traffic on Ashley Down Hill and the current resident parking scheme which can be found Bristol.Gov.UK, does not cover the Ashley Down or St Andrew's area.

Map of residents' parking scheme RPS area (Bristol City Council)

“There are massive congestion problem in Ashley Down, one of the reasons is because we are just outside the resident parking scheme area, " said Chris Ge.

Hugh Lucas is not convinced the council will apply an RPS saying: “Let’s hope the railway proposal isn’t just a distraction from this".

Bristol City Council has been contacted for comment.