Parking meeting leaves residents disheartened

Over 50 local residents attended a meeting with representatives from the Parish Council at the Festival Hall on Monday, 4th April.

Mike Williamson, Chairman of the Alderley Edge Parish Council, had invited residents from Lydiat Lane, Carlisle Street, Netherfields and adjacent streets for an informal discussion regarding parking so the council could be informed of the issues as the residents see them.

Whilst residents of these specific streets had been invited, local people from several other streets, such as Lynton Lane and Clifton Street, joined them.

Councillor Williamson opened the meeting by explaining "We don't have any magical solutions, we want to hear first hand what you see as the main issues so we can take them to Cheshire East.

"We want to take away the saliant points you've told us to Cheshire East and expand the project that is currently taking place. We are under no illusion we are going to be able to implement the solutions in 12 months, it is a piece by piece process."

Councillor Keegan added "We want to widen the scope of the parking review, we want a solution to the whole thing and done quickly. Fine money is supposed to go back in to highways so funding should not be an issue - we generate a terrific amount in fines."

Residents from several streets aired their views, talking about the parking issues experienced on their particular roads but many left feeling disgruntled and disappointed at the outcome of the meeting.

Mike Taylorson, from Carlisle Street, and Michael Chapman, from Clifton Street, both attended. In November they had submitted a proposal to the Parish Council for the introduction of a residential parking scheme on Lydiat Lane and Carlisle Street, following several meetings with representatives from the Parish Plan and Parish Council.

Michael Chapman, who also owns an estate agents in the village, said "I feel that the Parish Council have no idea about the parking review and had other objectives at last night's meeting, mainly to appease the areas concerned and brush it under the carpet until after the local elections.

"I was horrified to learn that after all our effort and hard work with the Parish Council that the chairman had failed to read our proposal and had no idea what is in there and what we were suggesting for the village.

"This includes help for businesses by allowing longer parking for visitors/shoppers to the village, but also protecting the most important people of the village, the residents, some of whom I know are avoiding some of the shops and restaurants over their lack of control and lack of interest in the residents.

"On leaving the meeting last night, I was, as I am sure other attendees were, disheartened with what we heard. There was no clear message on how it is going to be moved forward at all, if at all."

Many residents expressed concern as to how local residents could influence the Cheshire East parking review. Councillor Marc Asquith, a resident of Carlisle Street, asked "How can we, through the Parish Council, put our detailed information in to the Cheshire East parking review?"

Councillor Williamson responded by saying "Following this meeting our role will be to get hold of the officers so they actually take seriously the issues that are clearly not being addressed. The Cheshire East survey is not going to produce accurate enough data for us to produce solutions for the village. The reason for that is because they are thinking along narrow lines.

"We are also going to go and see businesses to start talking with them and encourage them to park at the festival hall."

The meeting was concluded with the Parish Council requesting submissions from local residents by the end of April. Residents were asked to provide details of the problems experienced in their street and suggested solutions so these can be pulled together and passed on to Cheshire East Council.

These should be emailed to Kevin Ranshaw, Clerk of Alderley Edge Parish Council, by the end of the month.

Tags:

Parish Council, Parking Review, Residential Parking Schemes