‘Livelihoods resting on parking decision’
Shoppers, shopkeepers and residents of a “proper village high street” near the city centre are waiting with bated breath for a decision on whether to set up a residents’ parking zone (RPZ).
Bath and North East Somerset cabinet member Manda Rigby is due to decide by the end of the calendar year whether to implement the RPZ in Oldfield park and Westmoreland which will restrict parking for all the shops along Moorland Road.
“I hope they’re listening because it’s not their livelihoods that are at risk,” said Carey Gilliland of Madison Oakley Estate Agents on Moorland Road. “People come from all over Bath to visit our shops. We’re a proper village high street.”
Recently, the council implemented a residents’ parking zone which included the shops on Bear Flat, and following the perceived success of that scheme, consultations have been made on similar schemes in Newbridge which will include the Chelsea Road shops and Oldfield Park including Moorland Road.
The road will be marked in four ways:
Permit Holder Only unlimited duration parking bays - mostly for residents who pay council tax. Students who do not pay council tax cannot apply for these
Dual Use parking bays - up to 2 hours’ parking for non-permit holders, or unlimited parking for permit holders
Waiting parking bays - up to 1 hour for any user
■ Yellow lines - on parts of the road where there are no parking bays.
Parking for the shops in Moorland Road which was always hard to find has recently got even tighter with the closure of the Scala Co-op in Shaftesbury Road where shoppers could previously park for free for an hour.
“That used to be our escape valve,” said Carey Gilliland. “The closure of the Co-op car park wasn’t factored into the council’s plans.”
A group of Moorland Road traders wrote to Ms. Rigby in August to “voice their strong opposition” to the council’s current proposals for parking restrictions in the area.
The Moorland Road Association commissioned a survey which, according to the group, provides strong evidence about the strength of feeling in the local business community.
The survey suggests the majority of those polled object to the council’s current plans.
They believe that the residents’ parking zone would ‘kill’ businesses and with them, the Moorland Road shopping street.
The group says it is not against the principle of parking controls, but believes that much more thought, consideration and genuine one to one consultation with businesses needs to take place to find the right solution.
They believe it is possible to introduce a scheme that can improve parking for residents but without damaging businesses.
They say trading conditions have never been tougher, with traders saying they need help from the council, not restrictions that could spell disaster.
“Moorland Road is a unique community asset at the heart of Oldfield Park – its long term viability needs to be protected,” said an association spokesperson. “Our businesses and organisations can not survive without customers who access the area by car.”
They are asking the council to listen to their concerns and not press ahead with the current plans that “could cause irreparable harm to the community” and urged Ms Rigby to consult with them to develop “a more suitable plan.”
In a poll on the “Moorland Road is amazing” Facebook page, amongst a sample size of 200 voters, four per cent of users of the Moorland Road shops said they had an electric car and would use a plug-in charging point on the street if one was available, 26 per cent said they didn’t have a plug in but might be attracted to use the shops in the future if a charging point was available, but 61 per cent felt that on-street electric car charging in the Moorland Road would be a waste of money.
❝ That used to be our escape valve
Carey Gilliland