NEW parking restrictions across Oxford are set to come into force within months.

The framework for three new Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in areas around Iffley Road, Magdalen Road and Wood Farm is being put into place this month.

Cracking down on commuters, shoppers, students and businesses, the initiative aims to give parking space back to the residents who live in those areas.

The first of the new zones will cover an area west of Iffley Road from Jackdaw Lane down to Fairacres Road and all streets in between.

A second new CPZ will cover the entire Wood Farm estate from the Slade to the Eastern Bypass.

The third will encompass the whole of Magdalen Road from Cowley Road to Iffley Road and all the roads from it down to Howard Street.

Having been approved by Oxfordshire County Council in March, the preparation to put the new zones in place is being made this month.

Residents in Wood Farm will be consulted about adopting the CPZ between mid-August to mid-September and, all being well, the new signs should be put up in December and the rules start being enforced in January.

The Magdalen Road zone is set to start being enforced from April.

The new restrictions are a joint initiative between the county and city councils and will be overseen by both.

County councillor for Cowley John Sanders said the work was an ‘example of real cooperation between the politically different city and county councils’.

He went on: “Many residents have been calling on the councils for measures to prevent commuters, shoppers, students and workers in local businesses obstructing driveways, and preventing residents from finding a place to park.”

The new zones are set to become even more important in often-gridlocked Oxford as the world-first zero emissions zone comes into force in two years’ time.

County cabinet member for environment Yvonne Constance, who has overseen the creation of the new CPZs, said she was glad to finally see them being put in place.

She said: “I am pleased that we now have dates for the introduction of the residents' parking zones – something that local people are really keen to see brought in.

“There is ever-increasing demand for parking places and this puts stresses on local communities so I am pleased that we are providing a solution with the city council.

“Setting them up costs a great deal and the fees people pay to park in them only cover the ongoing costs of running them, however most people who live in areas with controlled parking zones value them highly and this is something we want to be able to extend to other communities."

She added: “Much of the funding needed to set them up comes through the planning process which places a responsibility on developers to pay for measures to mitigate the impact of their developments.”

The council has set aside other zones which it wants to roll out CPZs in – including central Cowley, Florence Park and Hollow Way – but cannot do so for all of Oxford because of a lack of funds.