15th April 2008
from the Farnborough News & Mail
People who live and work in North Camp will have the opportunity to give their thoughts on new parking rules at a special meeting.
North Camp Matters Community Association is planning the June meeting in response to a mixed reaction to new on-street parking arrangements in the area.
Some traders who were initially opposed to the plans have come round in favour of the scheme, with other residents still angry about the charges.
Steve Optix, the association chairman, said the system would take some time to bed down.
“It is going to take a few months before we can gauge it,” Mr Optix said.
“I have spoken in depth to quite a few residents and traders, and there are a few people who originally complained about it who are now not too fussed about it now it is there.
“When it first started in Camp Road traders were pleased when they saw that there were so many more spaces on the road for their customers to use.”
A system of parking tickets for short-term stays has now been introduced in Lynchford Road and Camp Road, with machines due to be installed on sections of Queens Road, Peabody Road and Alexandra Road shortly.
The ticketing system replaces a previous free one-hour parking bays, which some residents and traders complained had been abused by people who ignored the time limits, parking there all day.
However, the old system would have worked fine if the council had provided more parking wardens to police the bays, Mr Optix said, adding that the lack of staff to enforce the rules could still be the downfall of the latest regime.
“I have only seen one traffic warden in the past three weeks,” the Camp Road resident said, “and clearly there are still a lot of people who are not paying to park, and getting away with it.
“I am no particular fan of traffic wardens, but it is amazing the amount of people who are not paying to park.”
The charges have been brought in alongside a reduction in parking charges at the Peabody Road car park, which have been reduced from 30p an hour down to 20p, and the evening charge reduced from 50p to 30p.
Napier Gardens car park has also had its evening charge reduced from 50p to 30p, while the hourly charge remains 10p per hour.
The parking charge has become a politically hot issue, with one candidate for next month’s Rushmoor Borough Council elections for the St Mark’s ward standing on an anti-parking charge manifesto.
However, one current councillor has raised concerns that a letter sent to residents from council parking manager Mike Bamber has “misrepresented” his position on the charges.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Alistair Mackie lodged a complaint with the council’s chief executive, Andrew Lloyd, after Mr Bamber wrote that all three ward councillors “endorsed” the plans to bring in parking charges.
Mr Lloyd said that he was happy to correct the implication, saying that while Cllr Mackie had not raised any specific objections, his position did not constitute an endorsement, as stated in the letter.
Meanwhile, a Peabody Road resident has written to the council with concerns about lorries parking overnight at the Peabody Road car park.
Jo Mayne’s family has lived in Peabody Road for six generations, and has been at the same address since 1892.
But Mrs Mayne says that she and her husband are now suffering from lack of sleep caused by the noise of lorries parked in the car park overnight with their engines running.
While she praised the work of Mr Bamber to try to solve the problem, she said a noticeboard telling truckers where they could and could not park was frequently ignored. She added that when approached, some drivers were happy to move their vehicles, while others responded with verbal abuse.
“Mike Bamber has listened to us, but it doesn’t seem to have gone anywhere from there,” Mrs Mayne told the Farnborough Mail.
“I have had enough. This should not be left to us to deal with. For my husband to go out there and get a bit of an earful is just not on.
“If the council could give us a number to call if there is somebody out there, breaking the rules, then we would know that there was someone there to deal with it.” |
