Residents' parking schemes are set to be introduced on selected streets in Alderley Edge next month.
The schemes, designed to help residents park close to their homes by limiting long term parking for non-residents, will be implemented on Clifton Street, Carlisle Street, Lydiat Lane, Thurston Green, Beech Cottages and Netherfields from Wednesday 10th October.
Parking places will be introduced solely for the use of permit holders between 8am and 8pm from Monday to Saturday.
Permits will cost £50 per annum for residents and £80 per annum for business permits. Books containing ten visitor cards will cost £10, discounted to £5 for the first four books per year, and there will be no charge for carers' permits.
Lengths of 'No Waiting at Any Time' will also be introduced on Clifton Street, Lydiat Lane, Carlisle Street and Thurston Green.
Any existing restrictions, including the two limited waiting parking bays on Clifton Street, are being revoked.
Residents of these streets have been pushing for parking permits to be introduced for a couple of years.
Mike Taylorson, from Carlisle Street, and Michael Chapman, from Clifton Street, submitted a detailed proposal on behalf of residents, in November 2009, for the introduction of residents' parking following several meetings with representatives from the Parish Plan and Parish Council.
Residents' parking schemes are only one element of the Alderley Edge Parking Review which was carried out by Cheshire East Council in 2011 and published in March this year.
Cllr Mike Williamson complained at this month's Parish Council meeting, on Monday 10th September, that nothing had been done about the recommendations since the publication of the parking review.
He also reiterated his opinion that residents' parking schemes should not be introduced in isolation but must form part of the overall strategy.
Cllr Williamson said "It is the Parish Council's position that we need to complete the work on the street and in the car parks at the same time as we introduce any resident schemes which Paul (Paul Burns, Parking Services Manager at Cheshire East Council) concedes will cause displacement."
Following the Parish Council meeting I contacted Cheshire East Council to request an update regarding the report's recommendations, which include:
- Improvements to Ryleys Lane car park and research into the legal background with a view to adoption as a public, controlled car park within the next nine months.
- Monitoring the long stay occupancy of South Street car park and reviewing its status.
- Changing the length of stay to 2 hours on selected roads, including: Stamford Road, West Street, South Street, South Grove, George Street, Chapel Street, Massey Street, Brown Street and Stevens Street.
- Improvements to signs and lines, including new bay markings throughout London Road and and no waiting signs at the bus stops; new bay markings and the renewal of lines on South Street, Stevens Street, Lydiat Lane and Carlisle Street and no waiting signs along West Street.
I have also requested an update regarding the introduction of yellow lines on Congleton Road.
I have yet to receive a response from Cheshire East to this enquiry but I will publish an update as soon as this information is received.
Cheshire East Council has issued a Traffic Regulation Order for the new residents' parking schemes, which can be examined at Alderley Edge Library.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
The fact remains there have been circa 30+ free spaces on Lydiat Lane every daytime since the new restrictions were put in place. I'm sure the situation is the same on some of the other restricted roads.
Surely everyone can see this is a huge waste of valuable parking spaces.
Has anyone evaluated how many spaces have been restricted versus how many permits have been given?
Why not make it residents parking from 5pm to 8.30am like a lot of London boroughs? Or why not set aside some for residents and some for general use? The whole scheme seems ill thought out.
The lease on our office runs out at the end of the year and with the parking changes I am seriously questioning whether being located in the village is viable. We're not a big business but between us we will still spend many £000's each year in the village.
What those of us who live in these areas have suffered over the last 4 years, since traffic wardens were introduced to the village, is the inability to park anywhere near our houses at most times as a result of workers in the village using us as a free car park throughout the day and night. A not inconsiderable number of these workers paid absolutely no regard for a) residents' cars, happily bumping them to squeeze into spaces; b) parking considerately to ensure further cars could fit into the available space on the road; and c) the noise and disruption they created when they stood outside their cars chatting and moving them late at night. Several people have been verbally abused by these people and have had threatening notes left on their cars.
As for alternative solutions, there is a car park in the village at the Festival Hall, which is cheap to park in and not too far for workers to walk to the village.
On the evidence so far, all that the scheme has done is made the situation on London Road, Blackshaw Lane and general parking in the village much worse.
Given that the village needs to service all stakeholders from residents, workers and visitors can you not see the shear stupidity of what we had yesterday where for the majority of the day there were no more than one or two cars parked in circa 150m of linear parking (which for what its worth isn't far off 30 cars) whilst chaos prevailed in the village and on London Road?
It is not a resident's parking scheme that I have an issue with it is how it has been structured particularly in relation to Lydiat Lane. It may be very nice for a select few to have long stretches of empty parking spaces on PUBLIC roads reserved 24/7 for when they return from work or the shops but I don't think it is improving the situation for the other 99% of village stakeholders.
Towels and sunbeds spring to mind!
After 4 years of politely asking non residents to park neatly and in return receiving abuse and derogatory comments, I finally supported the introduction of the current parking scheme.
Finally, I can come home and park somewhere close to my home without risk of a parking ticket.
Further, there is room for my visitors to park in one of the two streets for which I pay the council for visitors parking permits.
I am amused to see that the temporary solution that, as County Councillor for the village, I had put in place for Clifton Street about 6 years ago has finally been fixed such that they also have resident's parking.
It's been a long and complex campaign, well done to CE Council officers for their hard work.
And my message to the non resident workers ? Walking a little further is good for your health. Perhaps when you park in front of residents' homes in the future you will try to park neatly and in a way that does not cause offence, and if spoken to about the subject of your parking - maybe being offensive is not the best tactic.
I hear that the Festival Hall no longer has masses of empty spaces, rather than moaning, maybe its better to grab the last few spaces.
All the best.
Most residents in the affected areas do not have off road parking, as I mentioned previously. The council would not have implemented the scheme had this been the case. Also, a good proportion of residents in the affected area are retired (and in some cases disabled) and have spent the last 4 years fighting to try to find a space to park their cars during the day when the roads were filled with village workers enjoying free all day parking. Those of us who still work have spent the last 4 years fighting to try to find a space to park our cars during the evening when the roads were filled with village workers enjoying free all night parking.
The ability to park in the village has not been taken away from you.