HEREFORDSHIRE Council is urging county residents to give their views on a new strategy that will guide car parking in the county over the next decade and a half – including the idea of cameras to catch errant parkers.

Running until June 3, the consultation seeks the views of residents, businesses, visitors and commuters into the county on town-centre parking, school safety, enforcement, technology, residents’ parking and business support.

With almost everyone in Herefordshire affected in some way by how parking operates, the council says it wants people to share their real-life experiences to help shape its future decisions.

It hopes to use the strategy to introduce “positive parking” through changing perceptions, improving drivers’ experiences, and ensuring parking supports economic, social, and environmental goals.

The council’s Cabinet member for roads Cllr Barry Durkin said: “Parking is something people experience every day, and we want to understand what works well and what could be improved.

“This strategy is about creating safer, fairer and more accessible parking across Herefordshire, and we want to hear from as many different voices as possible before we make final decisions.”

Among the proposals it seeks views on are camera-based enforcement, including automatic number plate recognition, which it says can be used to monitor and enforce parking and traffic restrictions in specific locations where safety, access or compliance is a concern.

The council’s survey asks how people feel about camera enforcement and questions that would it be appropriate to support safety, accessibility and fairness.

But the survey does not mention the proposal in the draft strategy to regularly increase parking charges in line with inflation.

Cllr Durkin concluded: “This strategy is about creating safer, fairer and more accessible parking across Herefordshire, and we want to hear from as many different voices as possible before we make final decisions.”