LAST March I wrote to Penarth Times suggesting a revamp in parking restrictions in Penarth Town Centre and the Esplanade area.

In particular the loading area outside Sainsbury's Windsor Road and perhaps utilising one side of Bridgeman Road to allow restricted parking.

I also around the same time contacted David Melding AM, who is a Penarth resident, on the same subject.

As a result he contacted Cllr Rob Curtis(who has recently resigned his position). Mr Curtis who at that time was the Cabinet Member for the Environment and Visible Services.

Mr Curtis responded saying there was a scheme that has already been developed for Penarth Sea Front which creates a number of additional car parking spaces for visitors to the area, which includes the removal of part of the double yellow lines on Bridgeman Road.

However he said " Unfortunately, funding for the implementation of this scheme is currently unavailable, therefore it will remain on the waiting list until funding becomes available and then it will be examined and prioritised against other competing schemes."

As summer has arrived absolutely nothing has happened. On Bank Holiday Monday I spoke to a traffic enforcement officer who confirmed that the area directly outside the prestigious James Sommerin Restaurant had absolutely no restrictions whatsoever!

I counted about 20 cars parking in this general area. I reckon you could park about a dozen camper vans 24/7 in the same area, provided they had tax and insurance.

What is going on? Why is Penarth is last on the list for funding?

Paul Fenton

Penarth