AFTER a year of suffering from the effects of the controlled parking zone (CPZ) scheme in St Albans, businesses in the city will now be given a helping hand by the district council.

Council officers will be looking at areas in the city where residents are not taking up their full allocation of parking space permits with a view to increasing the number of permits for businesses, following a meeting of the CPZ implementation working party on Monday.

Season ticket prices in council car parks will also be reviewed with a view to bringing them in line with CPZ season ticket prices.

At present, motorists have to pay £720 a year for a car park season ticket but only £180 for an all-day CPZ equivalent.

Working party chairman Councillor Sheila Burton said: 'It seems that the CPZ scheme has settled down.

'There are still as many shoppers taking parking spaces in St Albans now as there were before the CPZ was introduced. There has been no drop off whatsoever.

'We need to send out the message that there is ample parking in St Albans, that all car parks are free after 5.30pm and there is ample free parking on Sundays.

'We need to make sure we do the best for everybody. The scheme has settled down as far as residents are concerned. We now need to see what we can do for businesses.

'The scheme must aim to maximise the benefits for everyone. So far, it seems it has helped residents by making it easier for them to park near their homes.

'We now need to see if there is scope to help improve the situation for business parking.'

A survey by council officers of 25 residents and 33 businesses revealed general satisfaction with the scheme a year after it was introduced.

St Albans Chamber of Commerce president Melvyn Teare said: 'I welcome the contents of this report and hope that we will be able to do something for local business people.'

A report to the meeting said that 150,000 visits by car were made to St Albans each month for shopping and other short visits and that there had been no drop-off since the introduction of the CPZ scheme.

Plans for more pay and display machines to be installed in non-residential streets were also put forward to the working party.