A councillor in Douglas has called for an overhaul of the island’s parking policy.

Andrew Bentley is concerned that nothing is being done to address the fact there are more cars than parking spaces.

He says that current regulations are making the situation worse.

The government’s Strategic Plan 2016 currently states any new-built residential development ’should be provided with two parking spaces per dwelling’.

Mr Bentley (Derby Ward) says problems arise when former boarding houses are converted.

Mr Bentley explained: ’If you look at appendix 7 of the Strategic Plan, it says that a structurally sound building needs to have a new use - and the new use of the building will take priority over any shortfall in parking provision.

’Which is something [that] in inner Douglas that you kind of have to accept if you are going to retain these buildings and find a new use for them.

’The problem that we have is that you have certain buildings - there is a current planning application in Windsor Road for example - where you have a former boarding house which has the same frontage as the single-family dwelling next door, but the difference in occupancy and the concentration of [those of a]economically active age is very different.

’So in a house of multiple occupation (HMO) such as this one, which has nine bedrooms all of which exceed 10.5 square metres and therefore can quite legally be let to two people, you have a potential occupancy of 18 adults and every single one of them, if they have a car, is entitled to a parking permit.

’This is something that there’s no kind of control on the maximum number of parking permits that can be allocated to a building.

It was pointed out that this would be seen as fair (that when moving into a property there should be an entitlement to a parking spot), and Mr Bentley was asked what he proposes should be done.

He responded: ’First of all, you should be entitled to have a parking spot - well you can’t when you look at somewhere like parking zone W where there are more cars than parking spaces.

’And these people have nowhere else to go - you can’t park in the next parking zone.

’If they can’t get there (in their zone), they’re either paying for Chester Street car park or parking up at Noble’s Park 20 minutes walk away.

’So that’s the problem, unless we start to manage this problem it’s not going to go away, and [it will] get worse’