Heather Wienholt has written to Alderley Edge Parish Council and Rob Cramer, Area Traffic Engineer at Cheshire East Council, on behalf of village traders to request a full review of the parking restrictions in Alderley Edge village.
Explaining how the parking restrictions in Alderley Edge affect local businesses, Heather said "Since the council have taken on regulating the parking in the area the shopkeepers have become very dissatisfied with the current parking restrictions.
"The present parking arrangements have been in place for decades and we feel they no longer reflect the needs of today's businesses and peoples shopping habits within the village.
"Each person who comes to the village and cannot park is a customer lost for one or more of us. Each person who gets a ticket is another customer who will think twice about coming to the village, another customer lost.
"A couple of miles up the road is Handforth Dean where parking is ample and free and without persecution, they will go there instead."
Heather went on to outline a number of problems which had been identified by village traders as needing attention. These include the need for more spaces offering two hours parking, because a one hour waiting limit is felt to not be enough for customers to make the most of the village shops, restaurants and cafes, and separate machines for The Parade and West Street car parks so people are no longer caught out buying a parking ticket for more than 2 hours at The Parade despite the car park having a two hour limit.
The "biggest bug bear of all" though for local traders is the Tesco loading bay, which provides Tesco with 4 parking spaces, for their own use, for 7 hours a day of trading time.
Heather said "Being located next to this bay enables me to see the huge volume of tickets being issued in this bay, mostly in the 3-7 pm slot. As the loading bay is poorly signed this leads to confusion for the motorist, people are unintentionally parking there and therefore receiving fines.
"I can walk out of my door now and see a motorist scratching their head, frowning at the sign and ultimately arguing with the traffic warden while he tries to explain why a ticket has been issued.
"I reckon at least 10 tickets are issued here each day. This is damaging for our trade immensely.
"The new building has an integrated loading bay at the side on Clifton Street and the council passed planning permission for this design to be included. Tesco should be using this loading bay.
"We have been trading since 1950 and had daily deliveries with big trucks at this Clifton Street location, with no complaints ever from the residents. (Yes some of our delivery trucks are the same size as the Tesco delivery trucks). The erection of this building was very disruptive to Clifton Street; there were many, many, many vehicles, noise and dirt for the duration of the build. But a knee jerk reaction to prevent Tesco trucks from passing down Clifton Street to pacify a few stressed residents is not in my opinion good leadership and wise decision making from our council. We are asking for the loading bay to be scrapped, and for Tesco to be allowed to use their integrated loading bay on Clifton Street."
Heather added "Without the shops and businesses on the high street there is no high street, private businesses who are currently being heralded as the saviour of our economy cannot afford to unnecessarily lose customers.
"We employ many people, there are livelihoods at stake, there are currently many pressures on small businesses. This is one that can be easily alleviated by a balanced rethink of the parking arrangements in the village.
"Failure to find the correct balance between the parking needs of residents and the needs of businesses would be letting Alderley Edge down badly. It is the difference between a thriving village economy for every one to enjoy and one of empty shop units and dereliction."
Heather's letter was discussed at last night's Parish Council meeting where the chairman, Councillor Mike Williamson, agreed that "the hours people are allowed to park outside Tesco are completely ridiculous, we need to be pointed in the direction by somebody at Cheshire East about how to get the hours changed."
Councillor Nigel Schofield added "Parking arrangements in the village are earmarked as an item to be discussed once we know where the traffic is moving after the bypass is open and it is essential we hear what the traders have to say."
