Magna Road car boot sale victim of its own success

10:30am Wednesday 21st April 2010 in News By James Morton

Magna Road car boot sale victim of its own success Magna Road car boot sale victim of its own success

FEARS someone could be seriously injured or even killed have been raised as a Poole car boot sale becomes a victim of its own success.

The popularity of Magna Road car boot sale, held every Sunday, means cars have parked up along both sides of the busy main route in the clamour to get in.

It is also claimed cars have been running red lights to get into the sale site and drivers have been performing turns in people’s drives.

One resident of Magna Road, who asked not to be named, said the situation had turned into an “absolute nightmare”.

He said: “There could soon be an accident or someone could be killed.

“I saw one man tying a bed he had bought to the top of his car. This is a main road – it’s ridiculous.

“We’ve called in the council and the police because of the danger. We’re not asking them to close the sale, just make it safer.”

The organisers of the boot sale said the problem had arisen because of new restrictions.

Whereas previously cars could be let into the site from 9am, since December they have not been let in until 11am.

“It means they park all over the place,” said a spokesman for the boot sale.

“I do take it seriously and my priority is keeping the road clear.”

The organisers have been in talks with Poole council and now hope to open the site to traders an hour earlier in a bid to keep Magna Road safe.

Andy Dearing, the council’s planning enforcement manager, said: “The council and its partners are working closely with the organisers to find an effective long term solution to traffic issues outside the venue.

“We will continue to monitor the situation, and will start patrolling the area from this weekend to address problems with illegal parking.”

Comments(12)

BellaMalta says...
11:04am Wed 21 Apr 10

Ok so what you do is move it to the Canford Park Arena just up the road that has parking......

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ben111 says...
11:37am Wed 21 Apr 10

AGAIN another story that starts with COULD , just get on with it . Do people get paid for pointing out what could happen. get a grip

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rotcoddam says...
7:16pm Wed 21 Apr 10

So if the organisors say it is due to the new eleven o'clock start time why has this bootsale always and still is advertised as traders from 12.30 buyers from 1.00.

The more serious problem is the layout inside the sale. I have had considerable involvement in running properly organised outdoor shows and events. This site has stalls including cars and vans set on a severe slope tight together and barely a footpath width between most of the rows, which themselves have an eratic alignment. The whole event would become a deathtrap if anything such as a fire happened. The emergency services would find it impossible to reach most of the selling area of the site. That is if they could even gain access to the site from the road entrance, which would be blocked by cars exiting.

On any show site I have been involved in the councill require clearly marked fire points with extinguishers, adequate toilets (including disabled ones) and baby changing facilities,based on the expected attendence, first aid posts with qualified first aiders and a myrid other legislative requirements.

Carboots on the other hand like this one seem to require no more than a hand daubed sign "car boot today" and a couple of untrained carpark marchalls.

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karateman1964 says...
8:40pm Wed 21 Apr 10

The vast majority of the problems are the drivers who totally ignore the Marshalls...and think it is ok to leave the Bootsale by ignoring the Highway code and try to leave by leaving the exit on the wrong side of the road.

I also witnessed a female driver threatened one of the Marshalls because they had to wait to get out .

There are some that totally ignore the cones which are laid out in the main road and side roads.

As for the comment of untrained Carpark Marshalls..i disagree, they do an excellent job.

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West Howe Sean says...
9:25pm Wed 21 Apr 10

The idea of moving it to Canford Arena is a good one as Canford Arena must be the most underused facility in the area.

Am I right in thinking the arena was developed with money from the Millennium Fund?

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McVICAR says...
9:45pm Wed 21 Apr 10

All we hear about these days is what could happen or would happen or might happen, just let people get on with their lives and stop this nanny state that has become prevalent in our society over the last few years.
we never had all these could's, would's and maybe's years ago, butt out all the elf and safety anoraks and let us get on with our lives.

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McVICAR says...
9:45pm Wed 21 Apr 10

All we hear about these days is what could happen or would happen or might happen, just let people get on with their lives and stop this nanny state that has become prevalent in our society over the last few years.
we never had all these could's, would's and maybe's years ago, butt out all the elf and safety anoraks and let us get on with our lives.

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cardomon says...
11:00pm Wed 21 Apr 10

To be fair the area arround Canford arena is Nimby central. Even more so than Branksome Rec. I'm guessing its the residents stiring up trouble here

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rainbowkisses says...
11:16pm Wed 21 Apr 10

“We will continue to monitor the situation, and will start patrolling the area from this weekend to address problems with illegal parking.”.........
... The traffic wardens must be rubbing their hands in glee, ready for a bumper harvest of PCN's

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rotcoddam says...
5:03pm Thu 22 Apr 10

Canford arena is truely a waste of good open space as it must be the least used facility of its type on the planet.
Probably it would be prohibitively priced for a boot sale organisor.

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maddy2102 says...
7:39pm Wed 28 Apr 10

As a resident of Magna Road, I cannot begin to explain how truly awful sunday mornings have become. Cars parked on both sides of the road (vendors then buyers), total traffic havoc, and a total lack of disregard for the residents. This used to be a good area - now its the "Car Boot Road". I know of at least 3 of the local residents wanting to move because of these problems - apart from anything this is a hazard for families, the elderly and of course for the emergency services. Please, Poole Council, listen to what we are saying and put a stop to this!! As for the earlier opening, we would urge you to re-think

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philip adkins says...
8:19pm Sun 2 May 10

i clearly remember the start of this boot sale,the organizers have worked hard to get this sale off the ground.From a handful of sellers,to the vast amount turning up today,the site is well run, i guess it is a victim of its own success,with the large ashley heath sale,on the same day ,this boot sale is more popular with both buyers and sellers alike.mainly because of the respectable time of day it is held, i have never had any problems going to this sale and can only wish the organizers the very best of luck in the future for their very hard work ,,regards philip

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