The future of the resident's parking scheme which was introduced in Clifton Street in November 2012 is under discussion.
Councillor Keegan and some local businesses have been pushing for this to be looked at again and changed to a mixed use scheme for both residents and shoppers - because they feel it is having a detrimental effect on the retailers in the village.
However, an officer at Cheshire East Council who was involved in the implementation of the scheme believes it is working well and should not be altered.
Speaking at a meeting of Alderley Edge traders, James Howard, Parking Services Manager at Cheshire East Council said "Clifton Street is the only street that's right at the moment and to me its working in the way that resident's parking works."
Gary Morrison, from Wienholts commented "Clifton Street is not working. It is working for residents, but the parking spaces are empty during the day. There is more reserved parking than is necessary for the residents and I feel it's gone one-sided. Half of the residents on one side of the street have got off-road parking. They've got more residents parking than is necessary, it should be a shared space."
James Howard responded "If it was a shared space the big theory is residents wouldn't get a look in because it would be full of short-term parking."
He continued "Residents parking schemes are not supposed to be full of cars. That's not the aim of residents parking schemes to have an area that's full of cars."
Gary Morrison replied "If it's not full of cars then customers could be using it - a shared space. It's frustrating to watch customers getting angry driving up and down. I don't have the right to my road outside my house. Why have we got residents parking in the first place with everybody is entitled to use that space."
Concerns were also raised about businesses not being properly consulted about the introduction of the residents parking scheme, which was supported by nearly 100% of the residents affected.
Heather Wienholt said "It was a street given over to one hour parking since the 60s and I would have thought that the shops should have some sort sort of say in that being taken away."
James Howard replied "They did. I got letters from shops, including Wienholts, The Potting Shed and two or three others so obviously the notices (put up on the lamposts) were seen."
He continued "Even if the decision was taken by Council to change Clifton Street tomorrow it would take six months because of the legal process and may fail due to objections."
The resident's parking scheme on Clifton Street and other parking restrictions in the village were also discussed at the Parish Council meeting on Monday, 12th May.
Cllr Frank Keegan said "There are lots of issues with parking around the village but our principle problem, and the one we're aiming to solve first is assistance to the retail businesses in London Road because if we lose any of the retail businesses along there it will be real jeopardy for the village - so that is our primary concern.
"We had to address concerns at the top part of Trafford Road very quickly, we've done that by putting H bars up, the next focus is solving the problems for the retailers making sure we get turnover of footfall coming into the village because without the retail business we have really lost it in the village, so we will keep working on it."
Speaking about the resident's parking scheme in Clifton Street, Cllr Keegan said "It was an inadequate consultation in the first place, you need to be a moron to only take in the street. To say 95% of the street supported it, of course they did. The area should have been much wider and certainly the traders who objected should have had their objections taken into consideration."
Cllr Keegan continued "There are two separate things going on, the first is to ask them to justify how they have come to make this decision, which I think is not a well founded decision, and the other is to try and get it back for reconsideration as soon as possible."
Cllr Mike Williamson, recently elected as the new Chairman of Alderley Edge Parish Council, said "David Topping, the Portfolio Holder has alluded to the fact that in a rush to introduce residents parking scheme they have missed a trick, on reflection.
"The residents parking is from 8am to 8pm and the bays are empty because people have gone to work. We've taken photographs and submitted them to Cheshire East.
"The second bay is almost always at least 50% empty so what we're asking for is the reintroduction of a 30 minute parking, with no return in two hours, which would just allow shoppers to park up go to the shop and then leave. That would address a lot of the concern traders."
Councillor Keegan wrote to the Chief Executive at Cheshire East Council regarding the parking issues and met with officers to discuss the problems on Monday, 12th May.
Today (Thursday 15th May) Stef Cordon the chief officer responsible for parking is coming to the village and councillors intend to walk her round to show her all the problems.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
That is an eminently sensible suggestion, though a tad harsh. The traders only want parity - i.e. the rights to have shoppers park in vacant spaces. Mr Howard's position is that any vacant spaces must be held available for residents who may decide to return at any instant.
That is a very attractive deal for £50 a year. Which resident would not vote for that deal? However the fact is that Mr Howard's role is to patrol the policy of the Councillors : not to set the policy and implement it, and not to refuse to have it reconsidered because of potential delays.
It seems to me that the Council has lost the plot if an Officer can so blatantly disregard the views of Council Taxpayers and National Non Domestic Ratepayers - i.e. residents and businesses. The Council is a living entity - it is the property of the taxpayer. No Officer has a desk, or a salary, or a pension, which is not funded by the taxpayer.
It is time the Council pointed these facts out to Mr Howard.
6pm or 8pm till 8am for residents to park is acceptable and should have been what was indroduced. Very foolish decision to have allowded all day resident parking.
We are asking for a shared space where residents can park 24/7 with a permit while other users can park 1/2 or 1 hour. This is common place in other towns such as Wilmslow and we feel it is a very reasonable request.
The residents parking scheme is going well and all the residents of Clifton Street, Lydiat Lane, Chorley Hall Lane, Carlisle Street etc are very grateful for what Mr Howard has done. The residents parking was introduced to stop all day commuter parking and not to stop the shops and businesses of this village lose out on trade. I believe that the initial proposal put forward did suggest a mixture of resident/ 30 or 60min no return in 2hrs parking. Although i realise that there is no inherent legal right for any vehicle owner to park on the public highway, Residents parking schemes where introduced by Cheshire East to assist those living in an area where it is not reasonable to manage parking problems through conventional parking restrictions and to make town centres and fringe areas more attractive places, similar schemes have been successfully introduced in areas by Cheshire East in Wilmslow etc where there seem to be no known issues.
The parish council/Cheshire East need to look at all parking restrictions in the village as its my understanding that the signage is all wrong and basically unenforceable.
Everyone assumes that Residents work Monday to Friday 9 - 5. Many do not. Many residents are retired and many work shifts. Having to park hundreds of yards from your home when you return from a major shopping trip is impossible, particularly for the elderly and for moms with young kids.
It is therefore essential to the operation of any residents' scheme that there are empty spaces at all times - to allow the residents to return and park as necessary.
Any suggestion that residents' parking should be limited to the evenings misses the point. Suggestions that it should remain a free for all up to 8pm fails to answer the problem for residents who do return home around 6pm.
Don's suggestion that the period is reduced to 9 - 5 again misses the point that a lot of the problems for the residents was night bar staff parking throughout the evening and blocking the roads from 5 - midnight. Alderley's cafe / bistro society means that workers are coming and going at all hours and the victorian residential streets with no off road parking remain blocked to residents.
I find it completely laughable that Weinholts should make such a fuss about Clifton Street. There are only perhaps 4 or 5 spaces that would be available to customers if the parking was shared between residents and shoppers. And this for a shop that appears to open for about 50% of the trading week - Heather are you open 3 or 4 days a week ?
And to add to the humour - the Parade car park is almost closer to the traders than Clifton Street - a car park that is intended purely for the use of shoppers.
This problem all started when Parking was Decriminalised, perhaps 10 years ago, and the informal balance that had been established was destroyed. Decriminalisation was not subject to any real consultation and I recall clearly that Frank voted in favour at Joint Highways - I recall this clearly because I was the only one to vote against. It's complete hypocrisy for Frank to insult people and call them morons in respect of the consultation carried out for the residents' parking schemes in the village when he was one of the councillors who were too short sighted to see the problems that they were about to create by Decriminalisation.
I understand that by way of trying to effect the change that he wants, Frank has reported certain officers to the Council's Chief Exec for misconduct. Frank has always been a bully and now he seeks to bully these public servants. Totally inappropriate conduct on the part of a Councillor.
These schemes have been properly created and are doing the job they were intended to do. Get over it and stop complaining !
I understand that I bought my property for a lower market value in the full knowledge that it did not have a swimming pool but I now expect this to be provided for me.
If you don't fancy walking hundreds of yards to your home after a shopping trip then buy a house with a private driveway. It is not essential that their are empty spaces outside the houses on Clifton Street for the residents, they don't have a right over everyone else. If you want outside your home parking don't buy these sorts of homes.
I don’t think it is necessary to insult everyone who disagrees with you - I don’t mind you insulting me, cos I am used to your rants, but other people with a point of view have a right to put their case.
My recollection of Joint Highways meetings in Macc is that you either turned up v late, or left early, if indeed you turned up at all. Decrim was a CCC initiative, and County never took any notice of Joint Highways decisions, and they were advisory rather than decision taking bodies.
However in order to have influenced County policy on decrim would probably have required more time commitment on your part.
"The scheme is working well" ? Working well ?
What a load of nonsense. It is not working well at all, and I'll explain why ............
Dozens and dozens of times whenever I walk along that road during the day, there are only a few cars parked on Clifton Street, (Presumably they all have the correct parking permits) ?
However, there are always so many free spaces there each day with many motorists driving around the village looking for a space to park, knowing quite well that they are not allowed to park on Clifton Street unless they have a permit.
What an utter waste of parking spaces that COULD be available if only people like the Parking Services Manager got his facts right and made numerous visits to see exactly what is happening here.
I challenge him to contact me one day this week or next week and we will go around together and see the massive problem he and his colleagues have created !
Heather Weinholt makes a sensible and well informed suggestion and I agree with her, not you.
Before commenting again, I suggest that you consider whether anyone will actually want to read your ill informed comments in future.
David Hadfield
The change to residents parking which was initially implemented 18 months ago was the right decision.
The residents' parking schemes that were introduced into the village by Cheshire East were carried out after full consultation with the relevant people: residents, local businesses etc. It is inevitable that all stakeholders will not be in agreement in such situations; however, these schemes were approved, by Cheshire East, in accordance with their required processes. Before residents' parking was introduced into Alderley Edge, local traders and commuters would park all day in residential streets leaving few (or no) spaces for shoppers or residents. This is now noticable on London Road where some cars are regularly parked all day by staff of local businesses, and until work has been completed to make London Road parking restrictions enforceable this will continue to stop the flow of spaces becoming available. The reality at the moment is that there is a 'catch-22' situation where traders are stopping shoppers parking to purchase goods and services from the local businesses.
Other reasons why parking is an issue in the village are 1) people do not want to pay for parking and/or walk more than a few metres; 2) the Parish council has in their wisdom rented off 52 bays in the Parish Hall to force through the parking scheme on the allotments; and 3) there is an increasing volume of commercial offices in the village with insufficient parking for the number of staff employed a prime example of this are the proposed offices above NatWest bank where they are looking to relocate 18 staff and have only 1 parking space!!. Maybe Cllr Keegan should look at one of the other points in his election manifesto: the introduction of a 'park and ride' scheme; perhaps this could be done on the site on Wilmslow Road that the Council is trying to trade with the local school for the site on Lydiat Lane for the allotments??
Our high street is changing and Alderley Edge is fast becoming a destination village due to its high profile, and its restaurant, bar and cafe society. To introduce 'mixed schemes' to alleviate the parking issues on the face of it is not un unreasonable suggestion; however this would be almost impossible to implement and enforce due to the limited number and working hours of parking officers (eg they do not work in the evenings).
To quote the Cheshire East website on the purpose of residents' parking schemes:
"In many areas it is difficult for residents to park, due to long term parking by commuters, shoppers and tourists. The purpose of the scheme is to stop this and allow the spaces to be used mainly for the benefit of residents." This is exactly the case in Alderley Edge. During much of the day and certainly from 5pm, the number of spaces available on streets where residential parking has been introduced is less than the number of cars per household in the schemes.
As a resident who is part of a residential parking scheme I by no means wish to alienate myself from the village traders and am happy to see the village go from strength to strength; in an environment where other high streets are becoming wastelands with lots of vacant shops we are fortunate to have such a vibrant village.
"In many areas it is difficult for residents to park, due to long term parking by commuters, shoppers and tourists. The purpose of the scheme is to stop this and allow the spaces to be used mainly for the benefit of residents."
Village parking for residents is under mounting pressure. Such issues should have been thought through, for instance when planning was granted to the office/retail development at the top of Clifton Street. This was identified to have insufficient parking which had to be offset by a '106 Scheme' fee of £55,000 paid by the developer.
After the recent 'Parking & Traffic Forum', at which the question of residents' parking came up, I approached Mike Chapman (apology for using your name without your permission Mike; please allow it this one time). I asked if a meeting might be arranged between as many of the residents of Clifton St. and myself (as Chairman of the Parking Forum) at a time and place suggested by the residents. At the meeting I was simply going to say that whilst I understood their desire for residents' parking and their wish to retain it, could the residents kindly make some alteration/s for the benefit of their fellow villagers.
No threats and no coercion!
Alas the brown stuff then hit the air circulation device! So there was no chance of my proposed softly-softly approach.
I still think its worth trying. My mum used to say 'if you ask nicely, you might get'.
So I repeat the above first line: everybody calm down ?
James, there was no full consultation, the first most of the businesses knew of the scheme was when it was already up and running. A meeting was held at the cricket club, the businesses were not invited to this meeting. It is no surprise the consultation found overwhelming support for the scheme.
Colin, about your quote from cheshire east ..."in many areas it is difficult for residents to park, due to long term parking by commuters, shoppers and tourists...." For Clifton street this criteria would not apply as it was and always had been a daily one hour parking area.
Clifton street does not meet and never has met with the criteria for a resident parking scheme.
It's true that someone who's bought a house is treated differently to someone who's bought a pie. I think this is OK, many here disagree.
I think James Howard's team are doing a good job on parking in Clifton Street. It's not perfect, but they have to get it done with the resources they're given.
It's mentioned on this Forum strand that "Stef Cordon the chief officer responsible for parking is coming to the village and councillors intend to walk her round to show her all the problems." Did Stef and her colleagues visit Clifton Street on Thursday? I hope so, as when I looked down the street at 10.30 AM (when all residents are presumably at work) there were exactly zero spaces available. Not one.
The only issue on Clifton Street is the pavement parking, which increases exponentially on Thursday through Saturday. Heaven forfend that anyone should need to walk for their pasty!
Don't insult me. I am not "further from the truth", I was not written to, neither was any other businesses.
The first I knew of it was spotting a notice on a lamp post, by the time I saw it there was only a couple of days left to complain.
None of the other businesses saw this notice as they wouldn't unless they walk down Clifton Street, as a result I think there were only two complaints from businesses.
We have as much right to be here as the residents, we pay a fortune in rates, I don't get any pleasure in complaining against this scheme, quite the opposite. I feel forced to defend my business and the livelihood it provides for 17 people.
Of the 7 homes on Clifton street with out driveways / off street parking all bought their homes knowing they did not have parking facilities. The decision to allow them free reign over 15 spaces is insane.
What I would like to hear from residents is how they feel about sharing the street after 8pm with night time and Sunday customers, and workers?
Not all residents of Clifton Street work office hours 5 days a week. For professional reasons I periodically need to make several journeys to and from home during the day.
We have counted 9 properties without off-street parking.
I respect the views of retailers in Alderley, but is there any convincing evidence that their weekly takings have fallen as a direct result of the introduction of residents parking in Clifton Street?
There are 4 short-term spaces available for shoppers at the London Road end of Clifton Street and this seems a reasonable number for a short residential road.
Residents parking schemes are now the norm throughout the UK in areas with limited residential parking places, for good reasons. I really would prefer Cheshire East Council to look forwards rather than backwards and I support James Howard's views.
One oft made point is that if off-street parking can be made available, then shoppers etc. will flock to the village and us locals won't have to drive around in circles, looking for somewhere to park.
The probable closing of the car park by Waitrose will just be that bit more painful.
The Parish Council is having a look at the possibility of using the Chorley Hall Lane playing field as a temporary/summer car park.
This possibility will of course displease anyone opposed to any parking on a green/grass site. Yes I agree that it is not ideal but desperate times call for desperate measures?
If the parking is NOT on the actual footy pitch. If there is no parking on the wet parts. If it is free to park there. If there's no parking close to the footy pitch.
I paced it all out yesterday; so I know where the wet bits are!
There is room for at least 90 cars and possibly as many as 130 cars.
I am told that local traders/employers would try to have their staff park there, so taking cars out of the village.
I know that most people won't want to park on a field, slightly out of the village.
Our ward councillor has approached CEC to get the 'mats' that can be laid over grass (as in the excellent May Fair).We shall see.
What do you think?
I look at parking space around the Tower Garage (Aldeli) and the old Queens Hotel that lies empty at weekends and evenings and wonder if someone could apply some joined-up thinking to the problem. There is space around the village but it needs people getting together to talk through solutions.