Hypocrisy gone mad.
Can anyone remember when the Ferry Company put up parking meters along the Ferry Road in Studland, and DCC had a turn and made them take them down?
Well now DCC propose pay and display parking for themselves along Durlston Road and Lighthouse Road!
See:
http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=387336
but link isn't working yet...
Posted by Anonymous to swanageview at 2/11/11 3:30 PM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
19 comments:
I cannot remember parking meters on Ferry Road......but isn't that road privately owned by the Ferry Company anyway?
If so, what business is it of the Council??
I guess that is what they thought!
I thought the problem was the bright yellow gravel the ferry company put on the verges on what is after all heathland, aonb, probably ssi, etc etc.
but isn't that road privately owned by the Ferry Company anyway?
And isn't Lighthouse Road owned by Trinity House (the clue is in the name). DCC do not own Lighthouse Road as I understand it but manage it. I don't believe that it is adopted (if that is the correct phrase). Pay and display on these roads. Whatever next. Can't remember the last time I saw a car parked on Lighthouse Road. Mind you I expect the council have to fund/maintain their expensive castle project....
Lighthouse road starts just past the junction with Sunnydale Road. Durlston Road goes off to the left as you go towards the country park, loops round and rejoins Lighthouse Road at the beginning of the country park. I think that is where it technically becomes a private road. The last part of Durlston Road seems to get treated as part of the park.
By parking meters we are talking about pay and display meters which print a ticket you put on display in your car. I dont think the old fashioned lollipop sort get used any more. The pay and display system on Ferry Road was operated by the ferry company or the national trust - not sure which.
I don't know for sure... but I suspect this is really just about DCC taking responsibility for parking at the Country Park (and stopping people parking along the road). I don't think they will be putting meters along the road!
Does anyone know if the Durlston bus will be reinstated if the work ever gets finished on the visitor centre?
The new Visitor Centre, in Durlston Castle, opens to the public on 18th November.
The statement of reason says only:
"To provide a parking facility for visitors to Durlston Country Park."
but no details.
So Durlston Road and Lighthouse Road from its junction with Sunnydale Road to become one giant car park?
What about Boundary Close?
With all these extra journies obviously expected have they paid an infrastructure contribution?
If DCC really wants to attract visiters up to the newly refurbished country park surely they should make car parking free and bigger.
I imagine the residents of Boundary Close will have to put up with "illegal" parking now. Boundary Close is private - there is a sign at the end. This is a shocking sledgehammer to crack a nut. As Mr Postman says it probably doesn't mean meters along L'house Rd but the order does seem to be clear - cars will only be able to stop on Lighthouse Rd for however long it takes to load/unload at the properties. There will be some form of enforcement. Why is this necessary? Ridiculous. They would be better off sorting out some of the parking problems elsewhere in the town - for a start the bend on Durlston Rd near the Park Rd/Seymer Rd junction where it is horribly narrow when cars park both sides. But I don't imagine this will generate any money - unlike the country park which will.
'The new Visitor Centre, in Durlston Castle, opens to the public on 18th November.'
Better late than never, I suppose, but I cannot imagine a worse time of year....just before the start of a long winter...........
'If DCC really wants to attract visiters up to the newly refurbished country park surely they should make car parking free and bigger.'
Indeed. Or hold off charging for parking until the summer (or make it seasonal - May 15 - Sept. 15). At least make it enticing for the locals to get to know the new facility. It might me a good idead to allow an annual parking pass (like the NT) for members. There is no point building a centre if people don't go to it.
Quite. If you live locally, say in new Swanage, and take your car to shop at Coop, park at Durlston to walk your dog, then park in Broad Road to buy fish and chips you have spent over a fiver already.
I don't understand this at all. There is no room to park on this stretch of road without impeding two way traffic. Why not just put down double yellow lines on each side or better still make it a clearway. There must be some hidden agenda here?
" but I suspect this is really just about DCC taking responsibility for parking at the Country Park (and stopping people parking along the road)."
Probably. But why disadvantage the residents of Lighthouse Rd/Boundary Close with it. The few cars that do stop here are by and large visitors to the houses on these roads. DCC must be planning to hike up the parking charges at the CP to such an extent that they worry that people will park on Lighthouse Rd instead. I wonder how much of this is driven (pardon the pun) by DCC Highways or a pet project for those who run the CP. As a poster has already said - DCC can't allow this expensive project to fail.
Of course taking the positive - if no cars park on L'house Rd it will allow cars to continue to romp up and down the hill as fast as they do now, with little regard for the pedestrians. DCC would be better off providing a proper footway up Lighthouse Rd.
One of the proposed plans is to issue each car that drives the route with an 'electronic ticket tag'. Basically, this will be loaded up with a set amount (loaded at the time of purchase), then deducted when parking near an authorised zone. Sort of a pay as you go approach.
This has worked in other coastal towns and some areas of Texas.
As the Senior Ranger at Durlston, I thought it might be helpful to clarify the wording (and our thinking) behind the off-road parking order.
Unfortunately the advert was rather confusingly worded - the intention is to prevent parking along Lighthouse Road and allow us to effectively manage the pay and display car parks (certainly not to allow parking on the road as the advert implied).
Parking along the entrance road has been a relatively low-level, but long-standing problem, causing obstruction (and on a number of occasions, accidents) as well as irritation for residents along the road.
Car Park charges are vital to the ongoing existence of Durlston, as we operate on as close as possible to a break-even basis, to minimise costs to the tax-payer.
We hope that the Castle will be successful enough in the longer term, to help reduce the significance of car-park income - this is one reason for the investment in the Castle, which will hopefully ensure a sustainable future for the Park.
Regarding residents along the entrance road, we have consulted with them throughout and made sensible arrangements about picking up and dropping off etc, so the order is only going to make a difference to those who persistently avoid paying in the Car Parks.
We have no plans to increase car park prices in the immediate future.
Durlston has no say in how other Car Parks in the area operate, so I can't really comment on those.
If anyone would like to know more, feel free to pop in, give us a ring or drop us an email
Katie Black
Ranger
Durlston Country Park
Thanks for the clarification Katie. Can you tell us if the D1 bus service will be reinstated?
Nick Storer.
Post a Comment