Douglas councillors have voted to introduce pay and display parking in the paddock area at the Grandstand.

The council has been exploring different potential solutions for parking in the area which would prevent the current situation of people ’storing’ vehicles at the Grandstand, without seeing the issue just spill over to surrounding areas.

The council will charge £1 a day to park in the area of the paddock which is cornered by Dukes Avenue and Glencrutchery Road.

However, the rest of the paddock area will see a disc zone system introduced.

Douglas Council is making the changes in an attempt to stop vehicles being left in the area for extended periods of time.

Councillor Andrew Bentley said he still believed that ’disc parking rather than pay and display’ was the way forward as the suggested method would ’only cause further displacement’ from Noble’s Park onto the surrounding roads.

Council leader David Christian said he agreed with Mr Bentley’s stance on the paddock car park and noted that the police have ’taken over’ the area since the custody block was extended and the force lost car parking spaces.

He said: ’If we create a public car parking then we are just giving into the people who decided to park there.

’We should have made the Department of Home Affairs pay for police parking since there is no room for their vehicles.’

Parking has been an issue around the Grandstand and stretching along St Ninian’s Road due to students from the high school parking there during the day.

Councillor Ian Clague and his fellow residents have previously petitioned for the council to support parking restrictions in the area, particularly on St Ninian’s Road. Mr Clague told the council that the ’will of the residents is for parking restrictions’ on the roads and called for a meeting with Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer in an effort to resolve the issue.

He also pointed out that the problem isn’t unique to St Ninian’s High School as similar problems have been reported by residents living in the area around Ballakermeen High School.

Councillor Ritchie McNicholl defended the introduction of pay and display parking saying ’disc zones are not the panacea people seem to think they are’.

Mr McNicholl suggested the council should agree to the proposal for pay and display and then examine how the system works and if it needs changing.

Meanwhile, councillor John Skinner put forward a suggestion to allow for motor home owners to park their vehicles at the boneyard in exchange for an annual fee as an alternative to the favoured idea of a £10 charge for 24 hours’ pay and display parking.

It has power supplies, water and chemical toilet emptying facilities. The council made no final decision on parking motor homes at the boneyard.