Traffic Wardens Killing Off Village Businesses

Castle Donington traders fear the worst if village centre parking restrictions cannot be increased to 2 hours.

Parking on Borough Street,
Castle DoningtonDuring the last few months the central area of Castle Donington, around Borough Street, Market Street and Market Place, has been blighted by traffic wardens due to the 1 hour parking restrictions.

This has resulted in a cocktail of problems for the village centre visitors who have had to cut short meetings, consultations, retail shopping, and a variety of appointments in hair & beauty salons, estate agents, solicitors and the doctors surgery to avoid getting a parking ticket.

Castle Donington Parish Council and Castle Donington Traders Association are vigorously pursuing Leicestershire County Council to increase the current 1 hour restriction to a more sensible 2 hours and are urging local residents to fill in a questionnaire issued by LCC.  Must be returned by Monday 30th June 2008.

Download a copy of the Castle Donington Parking Issues Questionnaire here

Or read the Leicestershire County Council statement below and follow the link provided to fill in online...

 

Changes To Parking In Borough Street Area, Castle Donington

A Request By Traders And The Parish Council To Change From One Hour To Two Hour Parking

Parking bays on the road in Borough Street, Market Street and in Market Place, Castle Donington are mainly one hour, along with a few blue-badge parking bays. Some local traders and the Parish Council have asked Leicestershire County Council to consider changing the one hour parking bays to two hours as they feel this would be more useful for shoppers and businesses in the village centre.

To do this we will need support for the changes from all those likely to be affected. We may also consider other changes at the same time, such as additional blue badge parking.

All those affected by the new changes will be able to provide their views and any objections will be given full consideration.

Please note: This is about parking on the road not in the car parks

To send us your views go to our online consultation form.  Consultation ends on Monday 14 July 2008.

Once we have collected as many views as possible we will discuss the results with the Parish Council, the traders and your local County Councillor. If there is support to change the parking we will then design a new layout and discuss this with all those likely to be affected by the changes. This includes residents, business operators, and organisations such as the emergency services and the lorry operators.

We are planning to be at that stage in the summer this year, but because we need to go through a number of lengthy legal processes we are not likely to be able to implement any changes until summer 2009.

  

Parking issues in the central area of Castle Donington 

This appears to be the topic of the village! 

The Parish Council is finding it very acerbating and frustrating that it can do little to resolve the issue.

The Parish Council wants a thriving village centre and has held numerous meeting with Officers and Councillors from NWLDC and LCC - to date with limited success. 

This will not stop the Parish Council from trying to improve the length of time for on-street parking from one hour to two hours and / or a limited waiting trial on the Doctors Surgery car-park. 

Businesses are struggling and if the village centre parking issue is not resolved then the heart of our village could be lost. 

The Parish Council would urge you that if you have strong views on the car-parking situation and the enforcement of the one hour waiting limit then please write or email to your Parish Council - this can then be used as evidence when it continues to pursue this ongoing issue.

Castle Donington Parish Council, Parish Rooms, Hillside, Castle Donington, Derby. DE74 2NH
Telephone/fax (01332) 810432 Email: clerk@cdpc.org.uk
Clerk: Mrs Fiona M. Palmer

Community Comment:

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Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Posts: 60

At 17:33 on 25th June 2008, R H commented:

I agree with this proposal 100% - local shops and businesses are hugely important to the community, and these current restrictions are just another way for the County Council to make more money out of people.

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Posts: 10

At 22:39 on 25th June 2008, Jo D commented:

This makes a lot of sense. With only one hour you hardly have time to do anything and people will start shopping elsewhere, thus really harming all the local businesses and killing the area. We must ensure this doesn't happen.

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Joined: 24 May 2007
Posts: 10

At 00:14 on 26th June 2008, anna t commented:

Balancing parking needs and congestion is a nightmare - however if our local shops, cafes, restaurants, services are to remain intact and prosper then one hour parking is guaranteed to kill them off..
Now more than ever with fuel prices sky high we need to be able to buy locally and spend our money what is left of it in local places - but with 1 hour to do it in, are we not inviting Business Parks to do well rather than our own immediate business district/village centres...and when fuel prices keep going up - will we not 'rue the day' that we ignored our humble yet now inexpedient local stores.
Times are a- changing and we need to get behind what matters - and one hour parking will lead us to despair!
anna t

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Posts: 5

At 17:56 on 26th June 2008, Debbie A commented:

As a person who likes to travel into Castle Donnington to wonder around the shops
I feel that if I can only park for one hour it seems unlikely I would make the journey, as it is pointless making the trip for such a little time, it seems that all smaller areas are penalised by bigger shopping parks, and that whilst I am not against paying to park I am against being rushed.

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Posts: 20

At 19:49 on 26th June 2008, Haley S commented:

Having only one hour to park will affect local businesses as people won't stay around to browse. Increase the parking and allow people to enjoy their shopping centre more.

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Posts: 11

At 00:21 on 27th June 2008, Joanne T commented:

I agree with all of the above. You don't want to be worrying about getting back to your car in time while your going about your business. We need our local shops in Castle Donington, more so now with the ever increasing fuel charges.

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Posts: 27

At 10:28 on 27th June 2008, Victoria M commented:

If drivers are prepared to pay to park for 2 hours (or longer), this shouldn't be a problem for the county council, and it would encourage people to spend more time browsing the local shops and boosting the local economy. Shame on the county council for wanting to introduce this ridiculous scheme!

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Joined: 14 May 2007
Posts: 3

At 21:04 on 27th June 2008, Vicky A commented:

Parking is free in Castle Donington and long may that continue, but when I attended a recent appointment on Borough Street I had to watch the clock as I also wanted to go to the Post Office and buy a sandwich for lunch as well. The 1 hour restricted parking only allowed time to visit the Post Office, good job it wasn't a long queue!! Shopping locally should be encouraged and I definitely support the two hour parking.

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