Councillor Sara Godwin defended her party’s motion to Swindon Borough Council, which calls for changes to the experimental parking scheme following a public survey carried out by Reform UK.
The proposal, which has since received the backing of the Conservative administration, would remove the parking bays on the northern side of Commercial Road while retaining those on the southern side.
If approved, around 17 of the 35 free short-stay parking spaces introduced earlier this year would be removed.
Speaking to Swindon24, Councillor Godwin stressed that she supports the principle of free parking and said the motion is intended to respond to public feedback rather than abolish the scheme altogether.
She said:
“Yes, I do. Absolutely. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. It’s a trial, so that’s the purpose of a trial, is to see what public opinion is. When I came into this role, my main thing was actually to try and listen to public opinion and be the voice and act on behalf of the public.”
Reform UK says its survey found around 60% of respondents wanted the previous road layout reinstated, while others favoured a compromise instead of keeping the current arrangement.
Councillor Godwin said:
“What we were keen to do is not remove every piece of the parking. Our proposal would be, listen to the people. What we’re clearly seeing is that it’s not working with having parking on both sides. It’s just clogging things up for motorists… but also being able to still have a proportion of spaces that are quick stay.”
She also acknowledged the pressures facing town centre businesses and agreed that making it easier for customers to make short visits is beneficial. She said:
“Yeah, I think it’s a good thing. I agree. There’s nothing I don’t disagree with any of that really.”
However, she confirmed Reform’s motion does not include proposals to replace the lost parking spaces elsewhere in the town centre. She said:
“It’s not in the motion this month… What is in the motion is that the council take the survey results and the comments that we’ve received from the people into the trial before it closes on the 18th of September, to make sure that the residents are being listened to.”
Councillor Godwin added that she would personally support introducing a period of free parking in one of the council’s town centre car parks. She said:
“I would definitely support having some period of free parking in a car park that’s safe… I would like to see a little bit more free parking, just to encourage businesses and people to come in just for those quick items.”
Reform UK has also argued that illegal pavement parking remains a problem despite the current trial.
When asked whether removing parking bays from one side of the road would stop motorists parking illegally on the pavement, Councillor Godwin accepted it may not. She said:
“No, correct. And I think, again, it goes back to the issue at the beginning… it was to try and resolve that, and it hasn’t.”
Instead, she suggested stronger enforcement or physical measures could be needed. She said:
“There’s two things, either you have to put some sort of block there, or you enforce the traffic offences of parking illegally… there’s some proposals there that we could put planters down to discourage people from parking.”
When challenged that removing around half of the legal parking spaces could simply lead to more illegal pavement parking, she replied:
“Which is no worse than the original problem, right? Before the trial came in.”
The future of Commercial Road remains the subject of debate, with supporters of changes arguing the current layout has created safety and visibility concerns.
Critics, including several local businesses and Labour councillors, have questioned whether reducing the number of free parking spaces addresses the underlying issue, particularly when illegal pavement parking is acknowledged to be an enforcement matter.
The experimental scheme is due to conclude on 18th September, with councillors expected to consider feedback before deciding its long-term future.
