RESIDENTS in Lindley are joining the fight against parking payments.

Kirklees Council’s Cabinet decided last month to charge people £30 a year for residents-only parking permits.

The passes had been free.

The move, which will come into force on Monday, August 1, will affect 8,675 car-owners in 160 parts of Kirklees.

Residents in Springwood and around the Galpharm Stadium have started petitions calling for their areas to be exempted from the £30 charge.

And now a Lindley councillor has called for some residents in his district to be spared the levy.

Clr Cahal Burke thinks Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Hospitals Trust should pay the annual charge for residents who live near Huddersfield Royal Infirmary (HRI).

The Lib Dem said: “Parking permits were introduced in the area due to the parking problems that are caused by the hospital.

“Kirklees is now in the process of introducing a charge of £30 per year per permit which is to cover the cost of administering the scheme, signage and road markings.

“I would like Kirklees to approach HRI to ask if it could use some of the money it generates from its pay-and-display car parks to pay some or all of the costs of the new permit charges for residents who live on roads around the hospital.

“A petition is being circulated to this effect.”

Clr Burke believes the trust should pay for residents-only parking passes in the following streets:

Acre House Avenue: 21 homes with 37 permits

Victoria Street: 35 homes with 76 permits

Cressfield Road: 35 homes with 78 permits

Burwood Road: 14 homes with 16 permits

King Street: 47 homes with 71 permits

Wellington Street: 147 homes with 178 permits

Acre Street: 54 homes with 79 permits

Thornhill Avenue: 43 homes with 81 permits

Gibson Street: 10 homes with 14 permits.

The total bill to the trust would be £18,900 a year.

A trust spokesman said yesterday: “The trust has no plans to meet the costs of residents’ permits.”

Residents in Springwood are also campaigning against the parking permit charges.

More than 200 people have signed a petition calling for their area to be exempt from the £30 annual levy.

Hazel Spencer of Springwood and Greenhead Tenants and Residents Association said: “We think it’s really unreasonable to expect people to pay to park.

“I don’t get the council’s logic. What will they think of next?”

Mrs Spencer has collected more than 200 signatures from residents on Water Street, South Street and Spring Grove Street.

And people living in streets around the Galpharm have also demanded to be spared the charges.

Clr Rochelle Parchment has collected signatures to a petition calling on Town and the Giants to pay the £30 charge for 317 homes on the Town and Spring Bank estates.

The Dalton Lib Dem believes permit parking is only needed in the areas because of matchday traffic.