HIGHWAYS managers at County Hall have apologised to Headington residents for failing to inform them about plans for new parking arrangements in the area.

The county council proposed suspending residents’ parking bays in Windmill Road, but failed to properly notify home owners.

At least 24 residents’ parking bays in Windmill Road, Headington, were painted over with yellow lines and adjacent parking signs were taped over with black sacks on Monday, suggesting residents should park elsewhere.

But now the council says it has no immediate plans to bring in the suspension which could happen at a later date.

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Journalist and Windmill Road resident Steve Jackson said: “We have had this parking bay since we moved in, and my wife came home Monday afternoon to see this work starting and the signs covered up.

“We couldn’t believe it at first as we received nothing in the letterbox from the council, no consultation — surely they should at least have consulted us on this.”

Oxfordshire County Council said that Windmill Road was a possible diversion route for buses during the London Road roadworks. County council spokesman Dominic Llewellyn-Jones said that the county council did submit a public notice in the Oxford Mail and The Oxford Times in December.

But he added: “We did not write directly to residents in the area, and we would like to apologise for this. There are currently no plans to suspend parking restrictions on Windmill Road and so the covers on the signs will be removed and residents can continue to park in their usual places.

“If the suspension does need to be implemented, residents will be able to park in other areas covered by the controlled parking zone.”

Resident and property developer Chris Clifford said: “In some ways this is worse than having parking removed.

“This is a totally draconian measure and is going to cause untold stress to residents.

“Any sound-thinking person would see those yellow lines and not park there, it’s causing a lot of confusion.

“It is total arrogance and we have been here so many times with the council.”

The 46-year-old added: “If the parking order is implemented between 7am and 7pm, are we supposed to wake up at the crack of dawn to move our cars?

“Also, the council has said we can find other spaces but what parking spaces?

“There are a lot of questions to be answered.”

The county council did not comment on why residents were not fully consulted about the potential suspension of parking bays or how they would inform residents in the future if parking was suspended.

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