Life in the ‘parking jungle’ where staff at Birmingham’s Heartlands Hospital ‘dump vehicles to avoid fees’

Fed-up residents have told how some Heartlands Hospital staff would dump cars on their street for 12 hours every day “to avoid paying for parking”. It also led visitors to the hospital to choose the same location, resulting in blocked driveways in the middle of the scenes dubbed the “parking jungle” in Bordesley Green.

A relative of a hospital patient parked in a driveway, resulting in an ambulance being unable to access to treat a 91-year-old disabled resident, it is claimed. While other cars left by hospital visitors were parked in the middle of a small roundabout.

Cars are thrown onto pavements and across grassy areas on Kenwood Road and Corbyn Road, with some cars parked side by side. Locals claim that uniformed hospital staff are suspected of recidivism with parked cars just before 7am. These cars are said to disappear at 7pm. Heartlands said it was sorry to hear about local concerns about inconsiderate parking and said it offers both on-site and off-site options for staff.

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Residents said they would like to see railings installed to isolate the space where criminals can park. Another solution would be for the road to become a resident parking permit only.

One local man, a 50-year-old father, told BirminghamLive: “It’s a double honking of cars. There are hospital staff who come early in the morning and park on the sidewalks all day. While we all understand that they do an important job for the NHS, this situation is really frustrating. Then later I see a lot of cars that are already here, and I think it’s acceptable to dump and cars are blocking driveways and it’s so inconsiderate – it’s gotten worse since the Covid days.”

Father-of-two Carl Khan reported thousands of cars parked illegally in recent years but claimed the city council had failed to take action. The 50-year-old, who is so fed up he wants to move, told BirminghamLive: “I’m sick and tired of reporting car registration numbers to the council every day. It’s blocking our driveway and causing an obstruction. the grass is destroyed.

“We moved here 22 years ago and never had any problems, but it’s gotten worse and worse over the last five or six years. About 90 percent are hospital staff. You come here at 18 or 19 and it’s almost non-existent. cars here. It’s during the day. It’s the same cars every day.

“At 7am my cameras pick up these people who park here. They have designated parking but they charge for it. We decided we wanted to move. We asked for rails but the council won’t spend the money.”

A 91-year-old woman, who is registered disabled, added: “We have cars parked across the driveway and we can’t get out. My son has to go out and tell them not to park there. I don’t know why they don’t use their common sense and think they shouldn’t park here. Like on the grass and it flies. The ambulance couldn’t get near the house because of a jungle car parked there.”

Her son said: “I have to park across my driveway or someone will park there. It’s a nightmare around here.” Some locals have since added flowers to old car tires on pavements to prevent inconsiderate parking.

Another resident, a woman in her 30s, added: “People are basically double parked everywhere. We have been here for four years and it is so bad. We parked cars across the driveway so we can’t get out. i just have to leave a note and wait for them to come back. I’ve seen cars parked on the roundabout before.

Councilor Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “While we understand that some people who have to drive may struggle with hospital parking charges, this should not mean causing disruption to residents in the area .

“We all share this space and drivers must always park safely and legally and be considerate of other road and pavement users and in particular consider local residents. Blocking access routes and nodes is simply unacceptable and we will take action where we can.”

A spokeswoman for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Heartlands Hospital, told BirminghamLive: “We are very sorry to hear about the concerns about inconsiderate parking. There is a range of parking available for colleagues working at Heartlands Hospital, including both on-site and off-site options, which are accessible and well publicised.”

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