Control Parking Zones Set For Burgess Hill
- A money making scheme for the council?
27th October
2010
By Peter Chapman
It's going to be like
living in Brighton and Hove if West Sussex
County and Mid Sussex District Councils get
their way. Soon enough residents may have
to pay as much as £120 a year to park
outside their own homes.
Introducing controlled
parking zones in Burgess Hill seemed a good
idea at first, it would benefit Chanctonbury
Road, a place where commuters like to leave
their cars as they head to work. With WSCC
looking to open a new special school in the
grounds of Oakmeeds Community College, it's
in their interest to have the the road serving
the school as clear as possible.
What has now come to light is that WSCC are
spreading the CPZ much futher afield than
the roads closest to the town centre.
One example of this is Fairfield Road, situated
west of the town centre. Many of the houses
sited on this road do not have garages or
driveways so on-street parking is the only
option.
With examples like Fairfield Road, is it any
wonder that some people are seeing the council's
proposed actions as nothing more than a money
making scheme?
In East Grinstead, residents
pay an astonishing £40 for the first
permit and £80 for the second.
By all means it makese sense for the council
to stop commuters parking in residential roads
and forcing them into local authority car
parks, but why should residents living in
the CPZ be hit so hard?
Why not charge £25 for the first car
and £40 for the second? Better still,
allow each home to have one free spot and
£50 for an additional car?
Is the CPZ coming in to bolster the council's
income because of cuts from central government?
If the price to park your
car in a Burgess Hill car park was more reasonable
then there probably wouldn't be so much off
street parking.
Greed and a lack of logic from both West Sussex
County Council and Mid Sussex District Council.
Currently there is a consultation
process where residents can let the council
know what they think of the proposals. I like
to think of this as "You tell us, but
we won't listen and just do as we planned
anyway"
All is not lost however, look
at what happened in Canton, South Wales where residents put a stop to the CPZ when
they discovered that the council had inaccurately
recorded from the consultation process that
66% of the public were in favour of CPZ.
A referendum was held and over 90% of the
residents voted AGAINST controlled parking
zones
Talk
to us ---
Are the controlled parking zones a good
idea? Are you a resident who will be affected
by these proposals? Are the charges for
permits which are being touted by WSCC
fair? Could all problems be resolved with
cheaper car parking charges?
Let us know your thoughts by emailing news@burgesshilluncovered.co.uk |
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