Frequently asked questions (Newtown ward)
1. What is this consultation about?
It is about whether or not there should be any changes to the rules that apply to parking on streets in the general ‘Newtown’ part of Dartford, that is just east of the railway station and Dartford town centre. This is part of a wider review of on-street parking arrangements in parts of Dartford near the town centre.It follows a previous public consultation on parking in Newtown (see question seven below).
The consultation is inviting everyone in the area to send comments in writing on options for possible new street parking arrangements. The aims of of these changes are to prioritise available parking spaces for local residents, while reducing the impact of commuter and other long term parking demands in the area.
2. Why are parking charges being considered?
Newtown has a few areas with existing street parking controls but many roads remain uncontrolled and in some areas finding a parking space has become a problem. In recent years, the Council has received several complaints from Newtown residents about parking issues in their streets, principally relating to concerns about commuter parking and non-resident parking in the area. The Council has been asked to look at introducing parking controls.
In response to these concerns, we carried out an informal consultation exercise in October to November 2022, with letters being sent to all properties in the study area. This showed that the majority of people responding identified that there are parking issues in their streets during the daytime and were in favour of the Council developing a potential parking control scheme to address their concerns. The consultation explained that there would be further consultation on options for parking controls, should there be support for them.
3. What are the main options proposed for parking in Newtown?
At this stage, the consultation proposals are plans of the area showing potential concept designs of parking controls, indicating the type of controls and the areas they might cover. The options vary depending on the street and the uses in that street. For example, short term parking is proposed near shops, extended hours of control are proposed where there are existing controls, and in some areas new resident permit holder bays are proposed. In other cases, there are proposals to introduce single or double yellow line restrictions.
- Options 1 and 2 are similar, especially in terms of where and for how long controls would apply. The proposed days and times of parking restrictions apply equally and with each option, however, Brandon Road, Marriott Road, Little Queen Street and Waldeck Road include Parking Permit Areas (only vehicles with permits can park in these roads during the restricted hours i.e. Monday to Friday 8.30 to 4.30pm) under Option 2 instead of marked permit bays and signs.
- Option 3 proposes shorter parking control time periods. These would be Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm.
Alternatively if you think that no changes are necessary in your street, you can select ‘none of the options’ on the response form, as your preference.
4. What difference do my comments make?
All the comments received in writing will be read and assessed.The Council is interested to know residents' views as your comments will inform what happens next.
Based on consultation responses, and taking into account issues caused by parking (eg emergency vehicles access, safety of pedestrians etc), a decision will be made on whether parking controls will be implemented or not, and if controls are implemented which option will be progressed to detailed design.
It is very important that we get your feedback in writing on your preferred option within the consultation period (Monday, May 19 to Sunday, July 20).
5. What happens after the consultation?
The consultation closes on Sunday, July 20. After that, responses will be collated and analysed, for instance by street by street preferences. Newtown ward councillors will be presented with the outcome of the analysis of public responses. They will consider this information and will agree how parking controls are taken forward, or if there should be no change to the existing arrangements. If parking controls are to be implemented where there are none at present, the details of these will be prepared. From this, the cost of implementation will be identified.
If a proposal is taken forward, reflecting public views, a statutory consultation of the details of the agreed proposals will be carried out with local residents, businesses and relevant organisations as part of the implementation stage.
6. Why are you consulting across all of Newtown, when parking conditions vary from street to street?
All residents who may be impacted should have a chance to have a say. Even those not immediately affected by a change could be directly affected in future if a new parking scheme for a street leads to people then parking on another street that is still uncontrolled (displacement).
See question 14 to see which streets are being asked to share their views.
7. I don't remember a previous consultation. When was it and how was it shared with the public?
An informal consultation exercise was held in October 2022 and consultation documents were sent to all properties within the streets of Newtown ward. The documents included a consultation letter to explain the reason for the consultation, a leaflet to explain the aim of the parking study and a questionnaire survey for people to provide their feedback with a return envelope. All those consulted had the option to respond online or complete a hard copy of the questionnaire survey.
View the summary of the informal consultation results.
The consultation ran for six weeks and closed on the November 25, 2022.
The local ward councillors were also consulted in advance of the consultation exercise.The consultation responses received have been taken into consideration and were presented to the Council’s Cabinet in April 2025.
8. How many permits can we have, how much do they currently cost?
Currently the Council’s policy is one permit per household in and around Dartford town centre, with a current annual cost £57.50. This compares with the national averageof £128 a year, as calculated for insurance company Churchill in May 2025.
The policy means that houses of multiple occupation (HMO) are limited to one permit for the entire HMO, as this is treated as one household for the purposes of parking permits. This stops every resident in an HMO applying for a permit.
Additional vouchers can be purchased if required (e.g. if you have a second car in the household) which will allow parking in permit parking bays. The Council can issue one Visitor Voucher Licence per property. This is valid for 12 months and will allow residents to book 25 sessions each rolling month.
A Visitor Voucher Licence costs £5.50 for 12 months. This will include the first five sessions. Residents can then top up by purchasing additional sessions through their account.
They can be purchased in the following bundles
- Five for £5.50
- 10 for £11
- 15 for £16.50
- 20 for £22
- 25 for £27.50
In some parts of Greenhithe and Stone, circumstances allow more than one permit per household. The number of permits available may be considered in some streets if there is evidence of more parking bay spaces being available on the street than households.
9. Won't this stop family and friends visiting me?
Any visitors can purchase a visitor voucher. See below for advice if you're a tradesperson.
10. Why can't you tell us the design of future parking spaces on my street, and the cost of it?
We have not made any decision on the parking controls and so have not designed the controls in detail. So information is not available about the number of spaces, this also means that we cannot estimate a cost for implementation yet.
Local residents, businesses and other relevant organisations are being asked at this stage for views on the broad concept options. These comments will then inform whether parking controls are implemented or not and if so enable detailed designs to be prepared.
Precise data, for example on the potential full cost to the Borough of schemes, can only be calculated once specific details have been decided. This could take place after the outcome of the formal public consultation exercise has been assessed, and councillors consider the preferred way forward. See question five for next steps.
11. Who is paying for the cost of this consultation, the designs and the implementation of parking controls?
Parking controls are being considered for all areas within a 10 minute walk of Dartford town centre. Newtown is one of six areas around the town centre where there is consultation on parking controls. This is because concerns have been raised about parking in residential areas around the town centre by railway commuters, people working in the town, people visiting Dartford and residents of new housing in the town centre.
The funding is from developers of residential and commercial development (where they have to pay a charge known as Community Infrastructure Levy). The Council has agreed to use some of this Community Infrastructure Levy from developers to pay for the parking consultation and the implementation of parking controls where these are agreed.
12. What about disabled parking?
Existing disabled persons parking bays (DPPB) will be maintained. Where there are changes to existing location of DPPBs, the principle is to ensure that there’s no net loss in the number of existing DPPBs.
13. What if a tradesperson needs to park to work on our property?
They may apply for a Dispensation Certificate for the zone or street in which work will be undertaken. Contact the Parking Services team on 01322 343131 for further advice about Dispensation Certificates.
14. Which streets are being consulted?
There are 25 streets within the direct location of proposed options (Area A), and 11 streets within the adjoining Area B - as shown in this the map below (click on the map to make it bigger). This totals over 2000 properties consulted.
Map of newtown consultation area
The streets within Area A are:
- Brandon Road
- Carrington Road
- Colney Road
- East Hill
- Fulwich Road
- Gladstone Road
- Great Queen Street
- Lamplighters Close
- Lavinia Road
- Little Queen Street
- Marriott Road
- Merryweather Close
- Mount Pleasant Road
- Overy Street
- Shenley Road
- Somerville Road
- St Albans Road
- St Martins Road
- St Vincent’s Road
- The Brent
- Thirza Road
The streets within Area B are
- Barham Road
- Bayly Road
- Bow Arrow Lane
- Brentfield Road
- Carilsle Road
- Fairfax Court
- Finchley Close
- Howard Road
- Ivy Close
- Mildred Close
- Sundridge Close