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Traders fear worst over parking blitz
Wednesday 1st April 2009, 11:30AM BST.
A new team of traffic wardens were beginning their blitz on illegal parking in a Black Country town today – amid fears the system could harm traders.
The number of wardens on the streets of Walsall will rise from eight to 25, as the council becomes the last in the region to take over the responsibility for on-street parking from police.
The new rules are estimated to net the council £3 million a year, but transport chiefs insisted today they were not designed to be a money-spinner.
And traders say the painting of double yellow lines on roads previously unmarked, and new signage, could hit them hard.
Shopkeepers in Norton Road, Pelsall, say ‘no parking’ signs put up along a service road that links them with the High Street will deter shoppers.
John Lewis, who runs Snap Decisions sandwich shop, said customers for all 10 shops along the row had parked along the service road without any problems since he opened 15 years ago.
“There have always been double-yellow lines on one side and single lines on the other and people have always parked on the single lines,” he said.
“It’s never caused any complaints whatsoever and is vital for the shops here. But now we’ve got these signs saying no parking between 8.30am and 6pm.
“Well, those are our business hours and without that parking I don’t know what we’ll do. It seems like the council don’t care about small businesses like us and just want shops with massive car parks. It’s easy money for them.”
The move is being introduced in a bid to free-up police officers to tackle priority crime.
Under the new system, motorists found flouting rules will be hit with fines of £50 and £70.
Paul Leighton, Walsall Council’s head of traffic, said the move was essential to help stop traffic congestion building up.
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Waste of money to be fair to employ these people, but also it’s a money making scheme for the council. Trader’s will be hit hard and then the council will wonder why they are all shuting up shop. Great living in Walsall ^o)
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Again NOTHING to do with helping stop conjestion, its a revenue raiser.
17 new Traffic Wardens on inflated wages of £20,000 plus a year will cost the Council around £400,000 but the new rules will net the Council £3 million.
Tell me that is NOT revenue raising….
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If the wardens were made 100% fee earning (i.e. their wages and overheads are paid exclusively out of the fines they collect) then that would mean their numbers would stabilise around the correct number needed to deal with illegal parking – if no-one parked illegally then there wouldn’t be any fines to pay the wardens.
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About time they did something, parking on Double Yellows been abused for years in Walsall town centre. People seem to think they can park where they like as long as they put their hazard warning lights on
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Walsall has just signed it’s own death warrant. Shops are already hanging on by a thread and Walsall’s solution is to put barriers up between the retailers and the public. Whoever decided this was a good idea in the council needs to resign. Not only are they putting retailers businesses on the chopping block but all the workers too.
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Im all for it!
Parking restrictions are there for a reason, the trouble is, some people are just selfish, lazy and arrogant and dont care about the inconvenience or congestion they may be causing to other road users.
If you park illegaly then you should face the consequences, AS SIMPLE AS.
Well done the council, about time!
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Wake up Walsall !!!!
everyone should contact this guy
Paul Leighton, Walsall Council’s head of traffic
stop in the office,phone call, snail mail,e-mail him and any others in walsall council – he is the obvious person
or
you can just sit back and “tut tut” about the whole situation and hope someone else does something !!!
Yea right see that happening!!
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As a resident of the town centre, I’ve tried to obtain a parking permit and have been unsucessful in that because my street isn’t covered by the scheme. Ticket me too much and I might have to move out of the area and they’d loose my council tax payments and my council tax potentially nets them more money than ticketing me on average 12 times a year.
Congestion? How is parking in a bay 10 minutes over, causing congestion. Congestion? Maybe they want to change the traffic light sequences at 5pm to allow the flood of office workers out of Tameway Tower and Freer Street NCP, that’s where your congestion is coming from down Rushall Street, to the farce that is the new Arboretum Junction, that’s so bad it actually causes more congestion than it was intended to solve. In fact some working bulbs in the traffic lights wouldn’t go a miss and if it’s not the bulbs it’s the actual power lines to an entire block of traffic lights.
Congestion, you want to solve congestion by ticketing residents and shoppers in parking bays? Pull the other one!
The FOOLS!
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In fact I might add the traffic light sequences and the new road layots are by far the biggest single cause of gridlock in Walsall Town centre, so people should talk to us about tackling congestion when they’ve actually done all they can to not make that congestion worse. The Red lines just seem like a waste of money because nobody parked there anyway in the first place? And another thing if you do want 3 massive supermarkets in the town centre that’s next to two major three major motorway junctions, don’t start faffing on about congestion, because you should have seen that one a mile off!
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Mr Leighton would do well to concentrate his efforts on the Caldmore area. It appears that the Queen’s writ does not run with traders in Caldmore. Parking on double lines all day, wheels on the pavement and police driving past without issuing any tickets. Obviously the Peoples’ Republic of Caldmore is immune to all legislation. Does anyone have any ideas why this is the case?
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The traders lose out and council make their pension funds. The traders should refuse to pay their rates etc – there are millions of us in the uk and if we stick together can make changes instead of just moaning.
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