Is this a record? It’s taken over a year for Cllr Peter Groves (Nantwich South), to get a response from the CEC Deputy Leader and Highways Portfolio Holder in relation to concerns he raised on behalf of Nantwich residents regarding the closure of this informal car park and plans for the future once development on the site commences.
Unfortunately the response tells Nantwich to raise this issue elsewhere (more time wasted) and because of the pandemic, car parking is not an issue - this attitude doesn’t bode well for the post-covid recovery in one of Cheshire East’s best-loved market towns!
Cllr Groves has set out his concerns in a letter to the Nantwich News :
“Dear Editor
I am writing to you, to express my concerns about the way in which the Council has handled the closure of the unofficial St Anne’s Lane car park.
I wrote to the Deputy Leader of the Council, in February 2020, regarding the loss of circa 80/100 free parking spaces and the fact that they were warned of the potential consequences in the article published in the Chronicle on the 28th of February 2020.
In my letter I asked: –
1. What alternative parking arrangements have been put in place and where and on what basis?
2. What arrangements have been made to subsidise those users who work in the town and now face an additional cost of £14-17per week, many of whom are in low paid jobs and need to travel into Nantwich by car from rural areas, where there is little or no public transport.
3. How will existing car parks cope after lockdown with a large influx of users and are you confident that retailers can be assured that they are not going to lose trade due to car parks being full?
4. Will parking enforcement be stepped up to stop residential streets becoming clogged with parked cars?
I have now received a response, on the 8th February 2021, from the Portfolio Holder for Highways, suggesting that we raise our concerns in the Local Transport Plan.
They also say that due to the pandemic, many people will continue to work from home, so the parking congestion of 2020 MAY not return for some time and that parking enforcement will continue at its previous levels.
There are no other plans to address the points I raised a year ago, which have now come to fruition.
Do they not care about the residents, shoppers or the people who work in Nantwich?
Frankly, I am not reassured by the response and am extremely disappointed at the way this issue has been addressed.
Yours,
Peter Groves
Cheshire East Councillor for Nantwich South and Stapeley Ward”
(Image 1 (Notice) courtesy of Jonathan White)
Reference: https://thenantwichnews.co.uk/2021/02/26/readers-letter-impact-of-st-an…
