Park and ride will reduce free spaces

CHARLOTTE GREEN

APROPOSED park and ride scheme for Rawtenstall will reduce free car parking in the town centre by more than 25 spaces, it’s been confirmed.

Rossendale Borough Council ( RBC) is overhauling its town centre parking strategy as part of the two-phase ‘ Spinning Point’ Development project, which includes the new bus station.

Council proposals would increase total parking in the town by 24 bays, to 476 - however 50 of those public spaces would be allocated for paid longstay parking and a park and ride for bus users.

This would cut the number of free spaces to 426, a reduction of around six per cent.

The remainder of spaces will remain free for three hours.

The park and ride scheme, and the addition of designated paid parking has drawn criticism from traders.

Karl Mather, who runs the Mather Gallery on Queens Road West, said: “For Rawtenstall, having free parking seems to have been a good way of drawing people to the town and encouraging them to shop here, and taking that away just seems regressive. I do think that there should be a new bus station but there needs to be compromise.”

Bank Street hairdresser and former Tory county councillor Tony Winder said charging people to park long-stay would “put people off coming into shop all day”.

He added: “It’s only going to lead to people parking on the streets that traders and residents normally use.”

Last week the Free Press reported that council chiefs have agreed, in principle, for the X43 bus service from Burnley to Manchester to use the new £3.5m bus station, together with designated park and ride facilities.

A spokesperson for RBC said: “This will be a significant boost for traders and the Rawtenstall economy.

“Options around a park and ride facility in Rawtenstall are being considered. These are proposals and as such require council approval. These proposals seek to strike a positive balance, recognising that people already do park for free all day in our town centre car parks and work in neighbouring towns, while enjoying the great residential lifestyle and amenities Rossendale offers.”

Rossendale council leader Alyson Barnes, said the location for the 50 spaces had not yet been decided.

She said: “We are in discussions with people about it, including the Chamber of Commerce.

“There is a need for a general car parking strategy to manage parking more efficiently in Rawtenstall and that will be managed in both phase one and two of the plan.

“What we have had for a long time is no enforcement around parking so we are starting to review our approach to parking - and this is part of that process. It’s not trying to push people out of the town, it’s about trying to manage what we have to create more spaces available for shoppers.” A CALL-IN inquiry to decide the fate of a controversial wind farm expansion project will start next week.

The planning inquiry into the application to expand Scout Moor wind farm by 16 turbines is due to start on Tuesday, October 11.

The scheme will generate power for around 22,500 homes and promises to bring in more than £11 million to the local economy.

Scout Moor Ltd was a joint enterprise between Peel Energy and United Utilities, but the latter pulled out of the project in February.

Tom Whitehead, who represents community groups opposed to the expansion, said: “We are confident that the facts we are presenting are robust.

“The issues that these community groups from Rossendale, Rochdale and Bury range from the effects on health from the noise which has been backed up by medical evidence, horses on the equestrian routes being startled and if the number of turbines are appropriate.”

A planning inspector will oversee the inquiry before making a recommendation to Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Sajid Javid.

Jonathan England, development director for Peel, said they remain “fully committed” to the scheme, adding: “The application was fully considered by the Local Authorities’ expert advisors and subsequently the planning committees in coming to the conclusion that the scheme was acceptable.” Rossendale council could lose hundreds of thousands of pounds of business rates income if the scheme is overturned.