ANGRY residents in South Ockendon are in uproar over proposed parking restrictions on the Flowers estate.

A meeting took place last Thursday between South Ockendon Residents’ Association (SORA), councillors and council officers where the plans were discussed.

Chairman of SORA Sue Gray said: “If the parking restrictions are implemented, the lives of residents would be disturbed by having to move their cars every day at the given time.

“Whether you are ill, doing a nightshift or having a family get together, vehicles will have to be moved from the lay-bys.

“Residents voted unanimously against this, but it was not listened to by the officials there that evening.”

Resident Dennis Proctor, 47 who is backing the plans for no parking restrictions, said the council has been trying to put restrictions on the estate for 10 years, but no-one wants them.

Mr Proctor, of Mayflower Close, said: “The council keeps having consultations for different parking schemes and we keep rejecting them.

“I don’t think you should have to park to pay outside your own home. The entire estate is against it.

“It was good to speak to the officers directly and they heard what we have to say.”

A Thurrock Council spokesman said: “An initial consultation was held in 2008, proposing a residents’ parking permit scheme, which was strongly opposed. The alternative proposal is for a two-hour parking restriction in the late morning to discourage commuter parking.

“This would cover the whole estate, as it is considered that a more limited scheme would still allow commuters to park on unrestricted roads.

“Residents have fedback that they may need to park their vehicles for all of the day, therefore the two-hour parking restriction would not be convenient. The proposal allows some unrestricted areas, but these could also be used by commuters.

“We are awaiting the final responses to the current consultation, which ends on March 25, after which a report will be prepared and a decision made.”