Sir – The plans for the proposed Controlled parking Zone in East Oxford have been crafted over several public consultations with residents, resulting in a division into three areas so that the differing experiences and views of residents in each could be heard and handled separately. It is of utmost importance that the council’s decision on whether to introduce a CPZ takes these views into account and is independent for each area.

We appreciate and respect the different situation in other areas but, as residents of St Mary’s Road, we wish to stress that the parking and traffic access problems in our zone (Magdalen Road North) have become untenable. There are simply too many cars trying to park in narrow, unregulated streets, resulting in chaos and danger.

Examples of the daily problems we face include: fire engines and ambulances unable to get down the streets, dangerous parking practices, regular gridlock and stand-offs between motorists, blocked roads and pavements and the frequent inability to park in our own street. Seventy-three per cent of residents in the Magdalen Road North area who responded to the county’s latest consultation were in support of introducing the Magdalen Road North CPZ. Indeed, most outsiders find the lack of a CPZ in this area bizarre. The implementation of a CPZ cannot magic away the fact that there are a limited number of parking spaces in a densely populated area, but it does provide a realistic and pragmatic framework for dealing with these serious problems.

At a meeting of SAMRRA on Monday, March 19, we voted unanimously in support of the introduction of the Magdalen Road North CPZ.

Barbara Colaco, Valerie Houillon, On behalf of St Mary’s Road Residents’ Association