Residents beg council to remove e-scooter bays as trial ends

At the end of May, Southampton City Council installed 14 e-scooter and cycle parking bays in roads across the city, including one in Claremont Crescent.

Southampton City Council's cabinet member for transport, Cllr Eamonn Keogh, previously explained that the carriageway sites will be under review for two months following installation – which came to an end yesterday.

One couple from Claremont Crescent, who live close to the bay, said that they thought the bay was "a complete waste of time, money and effort".

One resident told the Echo: “Why would the council waste this money – when the lorries come to deliver to the shop the entire road is now blocked thank to the impact of the bay.

“It’s unnecessary – we have an e-scooter dock just down the road on a piece of dead space – none of the residents here have an issue with that.”

The resident’s partner added: “Parking is already difficult here and now two spaces are gone – we have barley seen the e-scooter bay used.

“Our message to the council would be this: please remove it. It's just a waste of space that impacts the shop and the residents.”

In June, the owner of a Spar shop on Claremont Crescent told the Echo of his frustration at the new council scheme.

Ashish Gajjar, who owns Spar in Regents Park, said that he was furious the council put one of the bays directly outside of his store, where parking is already difficult.

Ashish Gajjar, owner of Spar in Regents Park (Image: NQ) He said: “So many have come me and said ‘why; why have the council done this?’ – I have seen regular customers who have come to my shop for years drive off in the other direction because they are sick of driving in circles looking for a space.

“The bin men can’t even get down Claremont Crescent to empty my bin store – now the council have made matters worse.

“Additionally, when I receive deliveries, the lorry blocks the road completely, causing a significant inconvenience with no solution for the delivery vehicle to park and unload.”

In response to Ashish’s issues, a spokesperson from Southampton City Council, previously told the Echo: “We have spoken with the shopkeeper just this week and advised that we will monitor the site for two months as we do with all bays.”