Parking woes looming (From Gazette Series)

Parking woes looming

DOUBLE yellow lines are due to be put down in Chipping Sodbury High Street any day now, although no-one seems to know exactly when.

Shopkeepers and residents are objecting to the restrictions with such force that last week they presented the town council with a petition signed by more than 1,000 protesters.

Many are concerned that the new restrictions will result in a loss of trade as shoppers, particularly the elderly, will not be able to stop their cars near the shops they want to visit.

Gimby's bookshop owner Charles Campbell has been waiting for news on the clamp-down for months.

He thinks it is important to encourage people to browse in the town and that double-yellow lines will only make them head off to out of town super-centres.

"People have always been shunted towards Yate, but what the council needs to realise is once customers are lost, it is exceptionally difficult to get them back.

"And once the traders are gone, they are gone, and there is no coming back."

But South Gloucestershire Council insists that the people of Chipping Sodbury, and those who use facilities there, were consulted about the yellow lines.

Communications officer Matt Rees told the Gazette: "We have consulted widely with residents and traders about the proposals and the scheme has been advertised.

"These restrictions do not mean drivers will be unable to park in Chipping Sodbury. They will still be able to use the market pitchings.

He said the lines were expected to be painted "some time in December."

But traders argue that the Wickwar Road car park will not provide enough spaces for the residents, shoppers, employers and workers of Chipping Sodbury.

The car park, leased by Hanson to South Gloucestershire Council and sub-leased to the town council, is shortly to have an extension providing another 100 spaces. But even this, they say, will not be enough.

There is also concern that the car park and the access to it are poorly lit, making lone women and the elderly feel vulnerable, particularly in the dark winter afternoons and evenings.

At last week's meeting of Sodbury Town Council 21 people attended to give their views on the imminent arrival of the yellow lines.

Nick Cragg, president of Chipping Sodbury Chamber of Trade, stressed that traders were strongly against having double yellow lines in the High Street and Broad Street. He handed over the petition with 1,000 names collected over just two days.

Mr Cragg also said the car park extension would not solve the town's parking problems if it was filled by workers from the South Gloucestershire Council offices.

Alternative plans such as limiting parking to three or four hours and discouraging all-day parking were suggested.

Sodbury Mayor Cllr Roy Vickers reminded everyone that a full consultation had taken place and opposing views should have been aired during that time. But he admitted there were a number of considerations to be taken into account and these would be discussed by the highways committee.

South Gloucestershire Council says that the car park extension needs to be finished before the yellow lines can be laid.