A 4-hour limit has been put in place in the South Street Car Park, as part of a new parking policy being introduced across Cheshire East, to prevent all day parking.
However, the Parish Council has requested that this is reduced further to limit the maximum stay to three hours. It was previously ten hours, as the sign still says but the ticket machine has been altered to only accept payment for up to four hours.
Councillor Craig Browne explained "The Parking Review recently carried out by Alderley Edge Parish Council found that at South Street all of the available spaces are regularly taken before 9am, with an average of just five spaces changing hands between 9am and 12-noon. This is unsurprising, given that under the previous regime it was possible to park all day for just £2.90."
He added "The Parish Council are of the view that the South Street Car Park should support retail businesses, by focusing more on short-stay parking for shoppers. I therefore asked the Portfolio Holder for an amendment to CEC-wide policy, which will mean that there is a maximum stay of 3 hours and no return within 2 hours. The amendment was accepted and will go to public consultation shortly."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Our village roads are already blocked with day parking. It is getting to be extremely dangerous for school kids and drivers to see the roads and traffic.
Certain road are blocked from ambulance and fire engine.
Lack of solution + stupid ideas = accident.
Stop moving the problem. Please solve it properly.
The solution lies with the local authority and it demands investment in increased provision.
go for Residents Permits; it has been granted in various roads in the village. Don't take no for an answer from C.E.
Ask your borough councillor to help you? That's what councillors are for ! That's why you vote them in ?
the Parish Council is supposedly giving the results of its Parking Survey sometime soon; hopefully to include suggested way/s to improve the problem.
I hope that they come to the same conclusion as did the previous Parish Council i.e. that the main answer is to build a large car park (circa 125-150 spaces).
You may care to ask the parish Council to discuss their suggestions with you? Or if you have viable suggestions, perhaps you might put them forward to either/both the Parish Council and Cheshire East Council?
Surely the fact that the car park was full indicates the need for *more* all-day commuter parking, not less?
How many retailers have asked the council for less all-day parking?
By my personal reckoning there are now around 120 fewer spaces in the village where it is possible to park all day than there were 18 months ago. This is of course just pushing the parking problem further into the residential areas.
I am gradually beginning to believe the conspiracy theories that all the recent changes are deliberately designed to exasperate residents and commuters alike until the majority opinion is to build a car park on the playing fields.
South Street car park: this currently allows all day parking although located
centrally and hence is crucial to customer (shorter stay) parking capacity. This
should remain the case until other long stay parking is made available (see
above) and is taken up, at which point South St occupancy should be reviewed.
It seems this recommendation has been ignored.
a car park yes. On the playing field no; its the only playing field we have?
Build the car park on Heyes Lane allotments. There are already other allotment sites in the village and the large tract of land (ex-St. Hilary's field) has been offered as an alternative allotment site; it is much larger a plot that Heyes Lane.
The result? More allotments than ever and a 125-150 car space next to the Festival Hall/Medical Centre.
Seemples ?
By the way, before the 'usual suspects' attack; I don't like having a car park, but if there's no alternative? Can anyone put forward an alternative viable plan to take circa150 cars off the roads?
Vehicles are trying to thread their way past these inconsiderate morons, and posing a danger to pedestrians forced onto the road by them, and to oncoming cars.