Last of the free parking spaces (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Last of the free parking spaces
7:00pm Wednesday 31st December 2008 in
ONE of Bournemouth town centre’s last sections of free parking looks set to disappear.
Bournemouth Borough Council has published proposals to turn the last large area of free parking in Bourne Avenue into a pay-and-display zone.
One section runs from Braidley Road towards the Square, and the main stretch runs from just past the Town Hall and War Memorial to the end of the tennis courts.
The proposals include changing the free one-hour parking to pay-and-display 24-hour street parking places, charging between 9am and 8pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 8pm on Sunday, with a maximum stay of two hours.
The council also plans to put parking restrictions on other roads in Bournemouth including: Derby Road, East Overcliff Drive, Gervis Road Spur, Grove Road, Braidley Road, East Overcliff Drive Spur, Gervis Road (Meyrick Road to Christchurch Road), Gervis Road (St Peter’s roundabout to Meyrick Road), Hursley Close, Manor Road Eastern Spur, Manor Road (west of Derby Road), Manor Road adjacent to the church, Meyrick Road, Manor Road Western Spur, and Manor Road (east of Derby Road).
Barry Kenchington, who lives in Charminster, said: “If I do go into town that is where I park, and because it is only an hour, you can normally find a place.
“If they put parking meters there I just won’t bother going into the town centre.
“There are plenty of other places to shop with free parking such as Castlepoint, Winton and Boscombe.
“This is not going to do the shops down there much good.”
Central ward Cllr David Smith said the restrictions would free up parking spaces for shoppers.
“We had a similar situation in Westover Road. There was a lot of hostility, but in reality we were actually congratulated by one or two traders who said it freed up spaces for a turn-over of cars. Before the meters were put in we found that a number of traders and workers were using the spaces instead of shoppers.”
Members of the public have until January 16 to make representations to the council about the proposed regulations in all of the roads. Letters should be sent to traffic management team, Town Hall Annexe, St Stephen’s Road, Bournemouth BH2 6EA.
Comments(13)
ferret38
says...
7:10pm Wed 31 Dec 08
Dont waste your time bmth council are a law on to thereselfs and do what ever they want !
In Absentia
says...
8:04pm Wed 31 Dec 08
Clearly Cllr Smith is a complete fool. If the spaces in Bourne Avenue are currently turning over hourly under current rules, making them paying spaces for a max of 2 hours is going to reduce car space for shoppers.
There's also very little point in threatening not to vote Tory over this. The Lib-Dems would do exactly the same. Many of the dafter traffic schemes in recent times were instigated by them.
Steve_Winton
says...
11:01am Thu 1 Jan 09
With this in mind, any proposals to apply further parking charges at this time beggar belief. Last January, the Echo was running a story which mooted the possibility of the town center being made a business improvement district (BID), and parking being made free - the original story is here - http://www.bournemou
thecho.co.uk/search/
1978099.FREE_FOR_ALL
_/ Lymington also recently U turned on a plan to implement further parking charges to help the local shopkeepers. Unlike a previous poster, I do urge everyone to write in before the end of the consultation on the 16th. Jan, and to copy their letter to each of their 3 local councillors as well, even if it does no good in this case, if they don't get deluged with complaints, otherwise within a few years the on street charges will spread through Winton, Charminster, etc.
fedupwithjobsworths
says...
11:44am Thu 1 Jan 09
Mullerman
says...
12:02pm Thu 1 Jan 09
Palantir
says...
1:36pm Thu 1 Jan 09
It just seems that Bournemouth Council want to take people's money away for working there. These moves will surely drive down commerce in the town as well as people will find other places to shop where they don't pay!
triffid
says...
2:39pm Thu 1 Jan 09
Personally, I always park in Bourne Avenue on the rare occasions when I go to Bournemouth, because I resent paying to park when I don't need to. If this becomes pay & display, I shall just not bother any more and will probably use Castlepoint more. Judging by how busy it always is up there, I don't think I'm the only one who thinks like that!
john_the_idiot
says...
5:01pm Thu 1 Jan 09
Get over it.
Why does parking cause so much pain to you losers, bet you spend more on fags and booze each week, idiots all of you...
DRG
says...
5:37pm Thu 1 Jan 09
wonderway
says...
7:15pm Thu 1 Jan 09
be-little him self by speaking to businesses in bournemouth his post is political not for the well being of businesses in bournemouth. they have made the Urban Centre Managers job in Boscombe redundant because she talked to local businesses, her post could be expanded out to all Urban areas so ever business area had avoice but no, Mr B's ensure outlaying areas are ignored again this council are totally ignoring the well being and growth of small business by dictorial use of power over junior coucillors perhaps Mr B's company should suffer the same distructive attitude he has fo the town centre or will he slim his way out of this one to blaming it on recession, not enough parking revenue perhaps his junior councillors will listen to their electorate and stand up against Herr B and co
afik
says...
3:22am Fri 2 Jan 09
wonderway wrote:The Urban Centre Managers job in Boscombe was redundant as the regeneration funding from central government ran out. Apart from that it will of course be good for the small businesses outside of central Bournemouth as they are easier and cheaper to access. As for central Bournemouth shops, there will be abundent choice of premises in other areas of Bournemouth where people want to spend money on shopping rather than parking. Any small offices left should seriously consider leaving the town centre, it makes no sense to be based in a town terrorised by yobs each night (who of course get free parking!). Pity about the CAB office, guarantees poor people can't get advice or pester the council - ahhh that must be the reason, nothing to do with destroying the local businesses.
The Town Centre manager doesn'
be-little him self by speaking to businesses in bournemouth his post is political not for the well being of businesses in bournemouth. they have made the Urban Centre Managers job in Boscombe redundant because she talked to local businesses, her post could be expanded out to all Urban areas so ever business area had avoice but no, Mr B's ensure outlaying areas are ignored again this council are totally ignoring the well being and growth of small business by dictorial use of power over junior coucillors perhaps Mr B's company should suffer the same distructive attitude he has fo the town centre or will he slim his way out of this one to blaming it on recession, not enough parking revenue perhaps his junior councillors will listen to their electorate and stand up against Herr B and co
loopymoo
says...
4:13pm Fri 2 Jan 09
The only other option is to park slightly out of town & get the bus in, but for a family this would be even more expensive than the parking, so a no-win situation really.
Palantir
says...
7:05pm Fri 2 Jan 09
loopymoo wrote:Well with the prices charged by Wilts and Dorset (especially for those who don't get Yellow Buses in their towns)it would be just as costly to get the bus as it would to drive!
I very rarely go to Bournemouth these days because of the extortionate parking fees. I mostly go to Poole where the parking is half the price, & if you spend £5 in Sainsburys you get 2hrs free in their car park. If they put the pay & display in Bourne Avenue I shall stop going to Bournemouth at all, which I suspect is what many others will do.
The only other option is to park slightly out of town & get the bus in, but for a family this would be even more expensive than the parking, so a no-win situation really.
bournemouth council will realise their error when they realise the town is virtually barren of people that don't already live in a stones throw of the town centre!
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FREE PARKING BUT NOT FOR LONG: Cars parked at Bourne Avenue, Bournemouth, which looks set to become a pay-and-display area
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