THURROCK Council has responded to complaints and criticism from residents and councillors and says motorists in Corringham can now ignore new parking guides painted in the town centre in a secret weekend mission.

Shopkeepers, residents and local ward councillors were shocked when council contractors moved onto St John's Way in the town yesterday (Sunday, 17 October) and refreshed and repainted road markings.

In doing so, they placed a single, nose to tail parking line on part of the road opposite St John's Church – halving that section's parking capacity.

For decades cars have parked there on an angled basis, allowing more spaces in the one hour restricted parking zone.

Councillors and shopkeepers say they had no notice of what was about to happen and have not been consulted.

Cllr Gary Byrne from the Homesteads ward was incandescent and told Thurrock Nub News: "This latest move shows how grossly out of touch many of the decision-makers are at Thurrock Council really are. 

"Why didn't they consult the ward councillors? Who gave the Ok? Only last week we heard about moving forward, we heard about openness and communication and yet today my telephone once again has a constant flow of very irate residents. 

"One week on, already slipping into the ways of the past. It's not good enough - keeping SS17 councillors in the dark. Parking issues have killed Stanford now they are seemingly moving on to Corringham."

How it used to be.

Cllr Shane Ralph was also aggrieved and said he had been told today that the council had simply implemented 'traffic regulations' and that the road wasn't suitable for angled car parking. However, angled parking has been allowed on the road around the corner, opposite the town's library.

"I don't understand what has happened," said Cllr Ralph this morning. "I recall that some years ago a warden issued tickets to all the cars parked at an angle, saying they should have been in a straight line, but all those tickets were quashed on appeal – so the council's position appeared quite clear.

"Its outrageous that this has all happened in secret, I just don't get it.

"I am shocked that this has gone ahead without speaking to elected ward members. I have been informed that this has been done within the parking regulations order.

"This change is completely detrimental to the traders and residents of Corringham. We are already struggling for parking spaces in the town. Our local town centre is  the heartbeat of the community and things like this have a hard impact.

"I and along with all local councillors have requested this to be changed immediately

"If there was a problem – and I don't honesty think there was, why not just take up a couple of feet of the very wide pavement and make the angled bays deeper?"

Angled parking is still allowed opposite the shops and library

That was a viewed shared by shopkeepers who told Nub News this morning they were surprised to see the outcome of the Sunday contractors' handiwork – and that they were very unhappy that more short term parking in the town had been lost.

"This will damage our trade, as if we haven't got enough to contend with," said one – while another added: "It's madness. If they think it's dangerous, just take a couple of feet out of the pavement, it's very wide at this point and would present no problem to pedestrians. You couldn't make this up."

However, this afternoon Cllr Ralph said he had received notice from the council that the new parking lines could be ignored!

He told Nub News: "Officers have agreed to suspended parking regulations opposite the post office where the new parallel parking has been marked out.

"Basically you can park how you normally park there and wouldn't get a ticket.

"This is to give officers time to look at the parking regulations.

"It has been explained to me that original it was marked out like that but over the years the white lines faded and people started to park diagonally for about 40 years.

"In the parking regs the white lines are for parallel parking. When the white lines were redone this time the parking line was followed per the document.

"We (all SS17 local councillors) will stand against this parking change."