From June 15 2009, the Council will pilot a scheme to increase the availability of parking spaces for visitors to Westminster residents.

The Visitors' Parking Scheme will convert approximately 500 residents parking bays to shared-use bays in the Queen’s Park, Abbey Road and Regent’s Park wards.

Visitors will be able to pay to park in these bays from 10am-4pm, for a maximum of 4 hours, so the bays are kept free for residents at the beginning and end of controlled hours.

Who can use the new bays?

Anybody can use the new bays, but they will be most useful for:

• Family and friends visiting Westminster residents
• Carers and health professionals needing access to residents homes
• Residents and visitors with disabilities

Where are the new bays located?

Abbey Road, Queen's Park and Regent's Park wards were selected to trial the scheme. These areas were surveyed and bays which were shown to be under-used during the day were selected for conversion to shared-use.

A list of streets and a map showing locations of the bays can be found here.

How do you use the new bays?

Shared-use bays enable resident permit holders and other drivers to use the same parking bay. Visitors must pay to park, and can only park within restricted hours.

Visitors can pay to park in the bays with:

• Pay by Phone: Use your mobile phone and credit/debit card to pay for your parking.
• Parking Scratch Cards: are easy to use and can be purchased from One Stops and Westminster libraries. Parking cards are also available in books of 10 so residents can buy them and store them for when visitors arrive.

How to have your say on the pilot scheme

There are 2 ways to have your say on the scheme:

1. You can lodge a formal objection to the scheme.

An Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) is being used to trial the new Visitors' Parking Scheme. An ETO is a legal document which imposes traffic and parking regulations, such as controlled parking restrictions. An ETO stays in force for 18 months while the effects of the order are monitored and assessed, before the Council decides whether or not to make the scheme permanent.

Members of the public can lodge formal objections to an ETO being made permanent. Each objection is considered and responded to before decisions are made on the future of the scheme.

If you would like to lodge an objection, it must be made in writing stating the grounds on which it is made, and sent to the Council's Agents:

West One

59 Buckingham Gate

London, SW1E 6AJ

or by email to: TMO@westonejv.co.uk quoting reference 5603/MG by 15 December 2009.  

2. Provide your views on the scheme by completing a short survey

If you don't want to lodge a formal objection but would still like to give feedback on the pilot scheme, please complete our  five minute survey here.

The scheme will be reviewed after 6 months of the trial. Depending on the outcome of the review, changes may be recommended to the scheme at this stage.

Want to know more?

Read our detailed FAQs here.