Cardiff students call parking permit plan ‘unfair’

Students could be stopped from applying for residential parking permits in the Welsh capital.

Cardiff City Council is exploring options for managing cars in the city – and one of them is to prevent people in student accommodation from applying for permits.

It said the move would give full-time residents more options for parking and promote ‘active and sustainable travel’ for students.

However, students called it “unfair” and described how it would make attending internships difficult.

Although changes will not take place until October 2026 and a consultation will run until December, students have expressed their concerns.

“I will not be able to move from one hospital to another, which is a special requirement for my training. I will also miss opportunities to go to specialist clinics,” says Elain Edwards. told BBC Cymru Fyw.

The fourth-year medical student said it would make things “really frustrating and quite uncomfortable” with a lot less flexibility.

She added: “Everyone is angry and quite disappointed because it just shows that the council is putting students on the back burner again and that they are not really prioritizing students.”

While she acknowledges that the university provides buses to reach the sites, she believes that medicine is a course of study where a car is essential.

Eleri Davies, a third-year sociology student, said being able to park a car is “key” for students in the capital.

She says the possibility of not having anywhere to park will “have a major impact on whether I take the PGCE (teaching) course next year”.

Eleri added that she would then have to catch the bus or train “which is great when the buses or trains are running or on time, but often the trains aren’t running, there are track replacements, it’s just an added stress to an already stressful year for me”.

“I feel like none of them (students) know except for a Facebook page,” she added.

“They (the council) said they have put posters and QR codes on the streets, but I can’t see any.”

Deio Owen, president of the Students’ Union of Wales Deio Owen said: “As a union we are very concerned about the effect this consultation will have on students and that students are being singled out as a group who will not be able to access to students. these new parking permits when they are introduced.

“It’s really concerning, especially when it comes to internships and other reasons for travel such as shopping where students need their car for mobility, especially in an area of ​​Cardiff where there isn’t as much public transport, such as buses, available all day is.”

He described it as “concerning” and a “step backwards” from the council.

The proposal is part of a broad consultation on parking management in the city.

It ends after six weeks on December 1.

By creating what it calls ‘parking control areas’, it aims to give residents a better option to park on their streets or on roads next to their homes – while reducing parking options for commuters.

To achieve this, various options are proposed, such as phasing out parking permits for people in the city’s suburbs and for people in student houses.

“Not issuing parking permits to these properties will reduce the impact of student vehicles on local residents and promote the use of active and sustainable travel by students,” the proposal said.

Cardiff City Council said any changes would not come into effect until October 2026 “at the earliest, allowing students sufficient time to consider alternative arrangements”.