Branksome Park, Canford Cliffs & District Residents’ Association (Established 1958)

 

       Please reply to 23 Lindsay Road,

Branksome Park,

Poole BH13 6AN

Tel No. 01202 751553

 E-mail: johnsprackling@gmail.com

25 February 2016

Dear Member

Proposal to extend On-street ‘Pay and Display’ parking to roads near the beaches

At its meeting on 10 February 2016, the Association discussed, at length, the Council’s proposed scheme to extend On-street parking on a ‘Pay and Display’ basis (P&D) to roads in areas close to the beach in Branksome Park, Canford Cliffs & Sandbanks and those present were overwhelmingly opposed to these proposals.

We now seek your support to help show the Council that the plans are a bad idea for residents, visitors to Poole and its beaches, and the local economy.

We are asking you to take action to stop this plan:

1. Write to the Corporate Research Team, FREEPOST RTKK-CCEE-CXUA, Borough of Poole, Civic Centre, Poole BH15 2RU (This is the Freepost address for returning questionnaires that can be obtained by calling 01202 634240) or email research@poole.gov.uk and head this ‘Extending on street parking scheme in beach areas’. Please state your objections in your own words, brief and to the point, to demonstrate your strength of feeling. A number of suggested reasons for objection are set out at the foot of this note.
2. Complete the Council’s on-line Questionnaire to reinforce your objections

http://www.poole.gov.uk/your-council/haveyoursay/consultation/planned-consultations/onstreetbeachparking/

3. Attend our Public Meeting on Saturday, 12 March at 10.30am in All Saints Branksome Park Church Hall. We hope that Julian McLaughlin, Head of Transportation Services will be present to present the Council’s case, together with our three Ward Councillors. There will be an opportunity to get your point across to the Council and ask the question you need answering.
4. Visit one of the Council’s drop-in sessions shown below:

Location	Date	Time
Cattistock Room, Civic Centre	Monday 29 February	1pm – 6.30pm
Haven Hotel	Friday 11 March	1pm – 7pm
Hamworthy Library	Wednesday 23 March	1pm – 6.30pm
Committee Suite, Civic Centre	Tuesday 5 April	1pm – 6.30p

Some of the main reasons for our objections include:

1. The Council bases its argument for the P&D scheme on the recently published Sustaining Poole’s Seafront Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which has aspirations for increased year-round visitor numbers. The SPD has a 25 year time-frame whereas the Council intends to implement the scheme this summer. Car parking provision should be provided as required by need over this 25 year time-frame.
2. The SPD says that ‘The Beach Road car park is an important high season car park but has plenty of spare capacity. Provision for new housing could be accommodated but retention of half the existing parking area, as public car parking, is needed. Loss of the remaining spaces will be mitigated elsewhere by making efficient use of existing car parks.’

 

We should be maximising the use of our existing car parks.

3. There is clear under-utilisation of existing car parks that are poorly signposted and are not widely known by visitors, e.g Beach Road, Western Road and Branksome Dene Chine’. A first step should be better signage followed by a monitoring of the effect on car park utilisation.
4. No evidence, such as from traffic surveys, has been presented to show where traffic congestion occurs and how the P&D scheme would prevent congestion.
5. The only serious congestion noted in the SPD is that “on a sunny day in the school holidays, long queues can form, especially at Sandbanks”. Queues have apparently been exacerbated along Banks Road due to the removal of the car park ‘queuing lane’ and replacing it with a cycle lane.
6. The confidential Strategic Car parking Review 2011 – 2013 did not show a need for more Beach car park capacity up to 2026 according to Council Committee minutes.
7. The proposal would generate a ‘wave’ effect along the roads when drivers search for ‘free parking’ beyond the P&D zones creating unnecessary traffic movements.’
8. Many residents who live in the targeted roads rely on on-street parking for their visitors. The problem of paying for visitor parking is likely to get worse since the Council is allowing flats to be built with inadequate on-site surface parking for visitors. (e.g. The 17 flats being built on the Norfolk Lodge site at 1 Flaghead Road have just 18 basement parking spaces and only one surface space which has to double as both a disabled space and a visitor space).’
9. No economic analysis is available to explore the overall impact of changes in visitor numbers as car parking becomes a new ‘visit expense’

 

John Sprackling

Chairman