RESIDENTS in Bury have slammed council plans to make them pay to park outside their own front doors. The pilot scheme, approved by the town's traffic chiefs, means people will have to fork out £15 for a residents-only parking permit. People in the Irwell Street, Phoenix Street, Bell Vue Terrace and Manchester Road areas called for action to prevent motorists who work in the town centre parking outside their homes.

Now, although many people are in support of the scheme, they object to having to foot the bill.

"It's just not on," said Mr Mario Pagliuca, of Irwell Street. "We pay all our taxes to the council, so they should pay for the permits.

"With all the money they will make from the extra people using their car parks, they'll easily be able to afford it."

His thoughts were echoed by Mrs Edith Crook of Phoenix Street, who said: "We need to find a solution to the parking problem, but the council should definitely foot the bill. There's no guarantee that we will be able to park outside our own house."

Householders will receive one permit per car, which will be renewed annually. Each household will also get a visitors permit free of charge. Non-resident carers such as doctors or nurses will be exempt from the scheme, and resident disabled orange badge holders will get a free permit.

If motorists ignore the residents-only bays, they could face fines of up to £30.

The £21,000 scheme, which also includes no-waiting and limited waiting areas, will operate mainly during working hours and in some areas on Saturdays.

Borough engineer Mike Cannon said: "Objections to a charge for permits are understandable, since given a choice between a free permit and paying, everyone would choose not to pay."

But he added that after the initial outlay by the council, the £15 charge would keep costs down, and make the scheme self-financing once established.

He said: "At the end of the day we can't solve all problems, but I feel we've gone a long way towards achieving that."

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