MORE talks are planned over changes to the parking in a popular shopping precinct.

We previously reported how a consultation is ongoing over whether to remove seven onstreet parking spaces near Barnards Green Post Office to make room for a bus bay.

Local traders are concerned they could lose customers if the spaces are removed.

By an historic quirk, the spaces were first established over 30 years ago right where there is a bus stop. This means anyone catching a bus must stand in the road, as cars now park where the buses would supposedly have once pulled in.

County councillor Steve Brown has been trying to get agreement on what changes could be made to satisfy shoppers, traders, and the safety of pedestrians and those queuing for buses. More than 1,500 people have backed a petition to save the spaces.

Coun Brown was first called to the green by Malvern Town Council to look at an issue where lorries were driving along the pavement in Court Road last December.

That was solved, but some weeks later, an elderly man waiting to catch a bus called coun Brown saying he had nearly been reversed into by a car backing out of the bays into Court Road.

“This man was not crossing the road – he was stood waiting for a bus,” said coun Brown.

“People were having to stand behind the parked cars, in the road, just to catch a bus.

“Echelon (diagonal) parking is not ideal, and not the safest.

When I pointed this out to the police they considered it a very dangerous situation. When I spoke to highways officers, they said current layout should never have been allowed – but it dates back at least 30 years.”

A proposal to remove all parking was then drafted by council highways officers for coun Brown, which is currently being consulted.

He has also recently spoken with traders and explained a consultation letter had been prepared for them, but that in the event it appears the news came to them before the letters were sent, leading to claims they only found out about the consultation “by the back door”.

Coun Brown says, having spoken to all parties, further work was needed to get a solution.

“It is unlikely the scheme as originally thought up will go ahead in its proposed form,” he said.

“We’re now working for an open meeting where councillors, officers and others can get around the table to discuss this further.”

􀁥 In nine months’ time Malvern will follow the rest of the county with the decriminalisation of parking – effectively meaning Barnards Green residents will be getting used to seeing parking wardens on the streets, and a shake-up of onstreet parking throughout the Malvern district.