The Public Meeting
09/07/08 15:04 Filed in: News
The Public Meeting for Grove residents took place on
July 7. This was with two of our Councillors, Tommy
Callaghan and Bernard Priest (Mavis is Mayor this
year), Simon Cooke and Adrian Briggs from the Traffic
Section, Tracey Swann (Ward Coordination), Richard
Burrow from the Environment Dept., and Paul Coburn,
an officer from Longsight Police Station. Ward
Coordinator Andy Wilson chaired.
There was a brilliant turnout from the Groves (the photo doesn’t show everyone as I couldn’t get any further back) which indicated in itself the level of concern about the issue. Many people contributed and all were polite but firm and clear. Well done everyone!
Some time was spent detailing the issues - all the stuff listed elsewhere on this website. We discovered that of the three main contractors in the area, Bovis and the various sub-contractors working on the hospital seem to be ones parking on our streets as Tower Gate Developments (flats) and William Anelay Ltd (Victoria Baths) both keep their vehicles on site. To be fair to Bovis, this would seem to be largely down to the hospital not letting them park on site, and they are willing to look at other options (see below). Bovis were invited to the meeting, but declined.
Then Simon and Adrian outlined several options (see ‘Meeting with Traffic Section’ June 26). Most popular was #3 (permits for residents, 3 hour maximum for others) which now had a one-way system added so we could have parking bays down both sides without cars having to get past each other in the middle.
The good news was that we can have a scheme as funding has been found... not so good is that it will take at least a year to go through the legal stuff - consultations, notices, approval etc. However, a possible short-term easing of the problem is on the cards. We have put the main hospital contractor Bovis in touch with United Utilities to discuss using their under-used carpark off Carmoor Road for some vans and other vehicles. Watch this space.
There was some discussion about permits for people visiting residents as there would be cases where more than 3 hours would be needed (e.g. relatives, workmen, carers). It was pointed out that any scheme is a compromise to some extent, but will still be a lot better than what we’re putting up with at the moment. However, we were assured the visitor issue would be looked at. One resident told us about a voucher scheme used in Essex, and that will be checked out. (If anyone has any other suggestions or knows of visitor schemes that have worked elsewhere, send them in by email, or phone the Traffic Section: 445 2264)
It was good that the Councillors, Traffic Section and others had been working on this behind the scenes for a while and even better that funding has become available. The scheme may extend beyond the Groves as the Councillors said they didn’t want to just bump the problem onto the next group of streets. That’s fine, but it’s a shame that wasn’t a consideration when the Carmoor Road scheme that caused our problem was introduced!
Paul K
There was a brilliant turnout from the Groves (the photo doesn’t show everyone as I couldn’t get any further back) which indicated in itself the level of concern about the issue. Many people contributed and all were polite but firm and clear. Well done everyone!
Some time was spent detailing the issues - all the stuff listed elsewhere on this website. We discovered that of the three main contractors in the area, Bovis and the various sub-contractors working on the hospital seem to be ones parking on our streets as Tower Gate Developments (flats) and William Anelay Ltd (Victoria Baths) both keep their vehicles on site. To be fair to Bovis, this would seem to be largely down to the hospital not letting them park on site, and they are willing to look at other options (see below). Bovis were invited to the meeting, but declined.
Then Simon and Adrian outlined several options (see ‘Meeting with Traffic Section’ June 26). Most popular was #3 (permits for residents, 3 hour maximum for others) which now had a one-way system added so we could have parking bays down both sides without cars having to get past each other in the middle.
The good news was that we can have a scheme as funding has been found... not so good is that it will take at least a year to go through the legal stuff - consultations, notices, approval etc. However, a possible short-term easing of the problem is on the cards. We have put the main hospital contractor Bovis in touch with United Utilities to discuss using their under-used carpark off Carmoor Road for some vans and other vehicles. Watch this space.
There was some discussion about permits for people visiting residents as there would be cases where more than 3 hours would be needed (e.g. relatives, workmen, carers). It was pointed out that any scheme is a compromise to some extent, but will still be a lot better than what we’re putting up with at the moment. However, we were assured the visitor issue would be looked at. One resident told us about a voucher scheme used in Essex, and that will be checked out. (If anyone has any other suggestions or knows of visitor schemes that have worked elsewhere, send them in by email, or phone the Traffic Section: 445 2264)
It was good that the Councillors, Traffic Section and others had been working on this behind the scenes for a while and even better that funding has become available. The scheme may extend beyond the Groves as the Councillors said they didn’t want to just bump the problem onto the next group of streets. That’s fine, but it’s a shame that wasn’t a consideration when the Carmoor Road scheme that caused our problem was introduced!
Paul K
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