Vanishing trees
Take a good look. We don’t know how long this view of Consett’s beautiful listed Parish Church will be available.
Enquiries have confirmed that there are plans to “take out the trees and grassed spaces” around both Edith Street amd Albert Road car parks in favour of extra tarmac’d car parking spaces. Local councillors have yet to see the plans, but apparently there is funding for the proposed extra tarmac and we will be receiving the plans soon.
We all know that there is a problem with car parking in Consett. Many of us believe, though, that it is an issue of managing the parking rather than an outright shortage of spaces and that the first priority should be to introduce a system of time limited parking in the central car parks.
If the town centre car parks were emptied of the shop and office workers’ vehicles which choke them up all day there would be plenty of space for shoppers. The all-day parking could be a little further out at Sherburn Terrace or Hermiston Park.
The appointment of a traffic warden would look after the rest of the problem and the Town Centre would have a chance to prosper again.
That makes a lot more sense to me than creating a small number of extra spaces at the expense of the limited greenery we have around the town.
I’d be interested in your views. Just click the “comment” link at the top of the article.
The one reassuring thing is that we have been promised that these proposals will have to go through the planning process, so people will have the chance to comment or object. I’ll let you know when they come up.
1 Comment
have your say
Mr Temple,
I was shocked to see in the ‘Focus’ update that grassed areas and trees in Edith Street and Albert Road are to be tarmacced to provide extra parking spaces for the Town Centre. Will the trees and flower beds be removed from Front Street or the car park at the Catholic Church? Are car parking spaces more important than a pleasant Town Centre? Now I know that people who can’t get parked in main car parks will park in Edith Street, but why should we, as residents, be penalised for where we live and be forced into giving up greenery to allow for more parking spaces for the, frankly, lazy people who come into Consett to shop?
I know for a fact that a number of people who bring their cars into the Town Centre live within walking distance, but are too lazy to use their legs. This is why the roads, alleyways and paths around the Town Centre are often no-go areas for pedestrians and the elderly and disabled, never mind residents who have cars.
I live in Edith Street and I tend not to try and go out on a Saturday if possible, as there is no guarantee of being able to park my car anywhere near my house when I return. The only way I can go out is if I know I will be back late enough for the street to be emptied of shoppers’ cars. I am disabled, which means it is even more imperative that I get parked as close as I can to my house, but some Saturdays this is just not possible.
I know that the Council has been reluctant to introduce parking charges to the Town Centre car parks, but I think that it something that has to be seriously considered with parking permits for the Town Centre residential streets. I think a consultation should be done with Chester-le-Street Council to see how the Council introducing parking charges affected local trade. This will then give an indication of what may need to be done, but the parking rights of Town Centre residents MUST be protected.
Consett also NEEDS a Traffic Warden. People basically dump their cars wherever they feel like without fear of retribution. They often make it impossible for me to walk with my crutches on the path and have to go onto the road which is dangerous for both me and motorists. The Council could make a small fortune on a Saturday alone.
I feel that the whole parking situation, indeed the whole infrastructure situation, has been compounded by the Council allowing more houses to be built in the Consett area and not upgrading the infrastructure sufficiently to cope with the influx of people. Adequate parking has become more a of a problem since the Council allowed Wetherspoons to build on a car park and allowed houses to be built on the car park at the back of Medomsley Road. No thought appears to have been given to where, or even if, the displaced car parking spaces would be re-sited. It appears to have all been driven by extra funds from the sale of the land. But the residents need more than just a Council that has some cash in its coffers. We need to be protected and so does the Town Centre.
Yours faithfully
Ms Jill Cowan