Dear householder,
Some time ago you were kind enough to fill in a questionnaire about
on/off street parking in your area. We began this investigation because of
new restrictions imposed in the New Street Car Park. It soon became clear
that this area was not the only one suffering from lack of parking for
residents.
The information gathered from the areas we covered – New Street/Distons
Lane, Spring Street, Rockhill and Albion Street, West Street/Westend and
The Leys and Leys Approach - showed that a great many people were
suffering considerable inconvenience in not being able to find parking
spaces in the evenings and weekends. Meanwhile Church Street had launched
its own campaign following difficulties for emergency vehicles reaching St
Mary’s church due to thoughtless parking.
What was clear from all this research was that this was a problem that
had grown up as more and more families in older parts of the town have
cars (and often more than one car), few houses have garages and the narrow
streets do not allow kerbside parking on both sides.
The surveys told us that there were instances where businesses had
exercised discretion in allowing residents to park overnight in the spaces
for their workforce. It was also clear that places which might have seemed
to be obvious car parks (as at Castle View and Penhurst) were in fact not
suitable because of problems of noise and the requirements of health and
safety around vulnerable people. In places where neighbours were prepared
to cooperate with each other, problems of access and night time parking
were sometimes solved but there were also instances of disagreement about
these things which had seriously impaired quality of life. A particular
problem was that of unloading, especially of children and shopping or
elderly and infirm people who did not necessarily have an orange disabled
sticker.
For some people the struggle has become too much and they have either
moved away or given up their cars altogether. Suggestions about residents’
parking permits were favoured by some and even the district officers put
forward a plan for it but this was turned down by the District Councillors
because it .went against their existing policy of no parking fees and they
felt it would be expensive and difficult to enforce. While there is
evidently no simple overall solution, the way forward seems to be through
small gains of additional spaces by the lifting of some restrictions,
through individual and cooperative efforts and by attempts to adapt
existing premises. (It might be a good idea for all places of public
entertainment to have over their entrance a sign saying ‘Have you parked
thoughtfully? Is your vehicle impeding anyone’s access?’ If so, please go
and move it, now!’)
The parking group set up by the Town Council following our initial
problems with the New Street car park invited key people from both the
County Council (who are responsible for on-street parking) and the
District Council (whose responsibility is for public car parks). The
District Council’s view had been that car parks are for the benefit of
shoppers and visitors and it is the responsibility of the car owner to
find a safe and legal site to park. It had therefore become essential that
people from both these councils should talk together and we were treated
to a visit from the Chief Executive of the District Council, officers from
Planning and Environmental Services and Traffic Engineers from the County
Council. We planned a route round all the problem sites in the town and
following that they came up with some suggestions.
Unfortunately, there was a change of personnel and some of these
matters were put on hold. However what has emerged are some plans to
- allow some additional evening/weekend parking in West Street and
West End which will have the added benefit of slowing down the traffic
along this dangerous stretch,
- some reduction of the double yellow lines in New Street and Spring
Street, and
- clearer indications in Church Street, Leys Approach and The Green.
In Rockhill, protracted negotiations between private landowners and
the District Council have meant that any dream of achieving ‘Mrs
Baylis’s’ car park’ have still not been fulfilled but the Town Council
is not giving up on this one. Some privately managed parking in this
area may have eased the problem but there is never going to be too much
parking in a narrow street with a high density of population. Meanwhile
applications from individuals for off-road parking in West End are being
considered by the planning authority.
All these things take a terrible long time. It has taken years to
establish the enforced parking restrictions in the Town Centre together
with better signage to the long stay car parks. The question of overnight
and weekend parking in these car parks was eventually solved by WODC
officers changing the wording on their signs and making it clear that cars
parked on Friday night would be able to remain until Monday morning.
The question of car (and personal) safety in these car parks had arisen
several times and better lighting and a pilot scheme of CCTV is being
installed. However there are still problems for car owners who go away on
holiday or on business and do not take their cars, or even actors at The
Theatre who remain for the week and only drive away on Saturday night.
The reason for sending round this note is simply to keep you in the
picture and to reassure you that notice was taken of your concerns. Even
since we began this survey new and different parking problems have come to
light and the pressure is always more and never less. As a group we were
heartened at the officers’ willingness to consider our point of view and
their desire to seek practical solutions. We await with interest the
analysis of the recent Town Appraisal to see how much of a problem parking
appears to be in the eyes of those who responded.
Please get in touch with any of us (through the Town Clerk’s office) if
you are aware of new problems or possible other solutions that may have
come to mind.
Gina Burrows (Chair), Sue Chapple-Perrie, Jo Graves, Martin Jarratt
Chipping Norton Town Council Residential Parking Working Group.
December 12th 2002
