AN investigation into claims of parking problems on a housing development is to be launched.

People living in the Sextons Meadows development in the south-east of Bury St Edmunds have been asked to complete questionnaires to help the county council understand the issues.

Parking investigations have been taking place in a number of areas of the town, and some residents are being offered permit parking schemes.

Matthew Moss, chairman of the Saxon Gate Community Association, which represents Sextons Meadows, Harrington Close, Rockingham Road and Tannery Drive, said non-residents parking on the estate was becoming more of an issue as nearby spaces had been lost to a flats development which is being built.

Sylvana Marley, who is on the Saxon Gate Community Association committee, said: “They are spilling over to us, but it’s going to be even worse when it’s actually lived in.”

The 14 flats at the former Linnet Service Station site in Maynewater Lane will each have a space for one car.

But Mrs Marley did not think the problem was “that bad” yet, adding residents on the estate could use their allocated spaces rather than parking in front of their houses.

Mark Ereira, Suffolk County councillor for the Tower division, said: “People are willing to park further and further out of the town centre to do their shopping or work in town and residents obviously say to us, their elected members, ‘that’s not good for us’ and ‘what can the council try and do about it’.”

He said yellow lines may be a solution or there might be a desire for a residents’ parking scheme on the estate, which is about a 15 minute walk from the town centre.

“I think we are just keeping a completely open mind,” he said.

Councillor David Nettleton, who responded to requests from people in the Springfield Road and Grove Road areas for a residents’ parking scheme, said he hoped free on-street parking in Bury town centre would become a thing of the past.

He said: “We would encourage people to park in car parks not to leave cars in the historic town centre. They are blocking the streets. The best way to encourage footfall in the town centre is not to have cars in these streets.”

The letter to residents in the Saxon Gate area also said officers may undertake some on-street parking surveys.