Wendy Watkins Posted June 23, 2013 Report Posted June 23, 2013 I am very annoyed with Hereford council for selling off the Merton Meadow Car Park for house building and not ensuring that the one thousand or so Long stay car park is replaced. When I wrote to them they said the old market site will have 600 new spaces. What they forgot to mention was some were going to be for the new supermarket at 2 hours max and the other would be short stay Car Parking. I have family that work in town and can not afford to pay £1.20 per hour out of their minimum wage to park. One of my family works for Tesco and they can enjoy free parking. Nurses, High Street workers, office staff and college students rely on the long stay car park. This is just another tax on the high Street worker! The transport strategy is that they don’t want cars coming and staying in the middle of town, this immediately begs the question as to why they would build another supermarket there? I know owners of homes in Whittern Way already complain that some students’ park there and they can’t park outside their own homes. How will Belmont residents feel when they have the same problem?
Colin James Posted June 23, 2013 Report Posted June 23, 2013 I am in favour of the new shops coming to the grid but another super market? Not required in my opinion, surely there are plenty of other alternatives? As for parking Wendy is right! How long will it be before car drivers are forced into residential area's thus avoiding the high car parking charges.
Wendy Watkins Posted June 23, 2013 Author Report Posted June 23, 2013 Colin, its written in the transport plan that we should park in residential areas its being sold as the solution to traffic in town.
Colin James Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 Colin, its written in the transport plan that we should park in residential areas its being sold as the solution to traffic in town. Nothing surprises me Wendy, it's a joke it really is.
M. Preece Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 This council is useless Wendy. Potholes everywhere, coffee shops, charity shops and east european shops, yet we have a burnt out building smack bang in our city centre. Nice new bull sculpture next to our most famous landmark the old house and then a monstrosity of scaffolding that has been there for two years! Either knock it all down and build a nice modern shop with apartments or repair it! :Angry_32:
Glenda Powell Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 Wendy, Merton Meadow car park was always in the bigger plan for the redevelopment, the housing is part of the 'urban village' plan what I am surprised at is the car park is known to always flood in bad weather. Who want to live in an area with the threat of their home flooding! can I add my warm welcome to you on this site, your posts so far have been very factual.
H.Wilson Posted June 24, 2013 Report Posted June 24, 2013 Wendy, you have made some good points here. Another supermarket in my opinion is not required, certainly not in the city centre! Traffic is bad enough now.
Wendy Watkins Posted June 25, 2013 Author Report Posted June 25, 2013 Glenda, Thanks for your comment. But I must add that I don't have a problem with the council building houses there (hopefully rescue boats will be at hand). What I have a problem with is in such a rural area they don't plan to replace the long stay car parking, please don't try the public transport suggestion on me, there are huge swaths of Hereford which only see a bus once a week. How can a person lucky enough to have a job in Hereford park at an affordable price? Youngsters on very low minimum wage (under 21's is about £3.60 per hour) pay another £1.20 per hour to park for the pleasure of working? Seems to make not working rather an attractive idea. Do the council want people to work? There should be a long stay Car park, every time I mention to people there wont be one they seem not to believe me, well soon enough they will find out and I can tell you nobody will be happy.
bobby47 Posted June 25, 2013 Report Posted June 25, 2013 Hello Wendy, I enjoyed reading your Post. It was cleverly crafted, thoughtful and imaginative and for the most part I fully agree with you and your concerns about the Car Parking within the City. That said, you use the word 'strategy', which tends to imply that some thought has gone into this issue or there is some plan that many of the great and the good have produced, signed off and delivered to us with a bucket full of optimism. There is no strategy Wendy. There hasn't been for some considerable time and unless we have some divine intervention and the entire Council leadership jump into the Wye, we ain't going to have any strategy in the forthcoming future. Whatever this Council leadership touch, glance at or think about, the entire scheme turns into a bag of rats. This happens because they do not think about anything from beginning to end and consider the final outcome. They collectively lurch from one badly thought out scheme to another, rarely ever giving any of the chaos they've created a single backward glance. No, there is no strategy Wendy. We are lead by a bunch of economic lightweights who haven't a single clue what to do for the best. Successive Council leaderships have had their hands on the levers of power and they've all added to our current woes. We are where we are because for to long we've all said nothing and allowed and trusted our ruling elite to do as they pleased. We have no infra structure, our wages are low, our kids are leaving in their droves, High Town is near to ruin, the Council are more or less bankrupt and they are selling whatever they can to plug the holes in the side of our sinking vessel. They've taken our future and what wealth we had left after the crash of 2008, and in a game of chance, a punt at the gaming table they've handed it all to Stanhope, Hereford Futures, Hoople and Consultancy Firms. Between them, they've asset stripped us and this is why they are ridding themselves of low cost parking. This is entirely about collecting revenue to prop up our ailing economy and the funding of the huge public service job creation programme delivered to us by New Labour. It's economic madness to discourage people from visiting the City but this is exactly what they've done. All I can say Wendy, is they didn't do it on purpose. They simply didn't think things through.
Glenda Powell Posted June 26, 2013 Report Posted June 26, 2013 Wendy, I would not dream of trying to sell you on the public transport arguement, as I do not drive my only way of getting around is buses (when they arrive) or expensive taxis £20 return fare from Belmont to city more if we get stuck in traffic. What car parking facilities we have in my opinion are to expensive no wonder people are parking in residential streets!
Wendy Watkins Posted June 27, 2013 Author Report Posted June 27, 2013 Bobby; you should be a councillor and Glenda, I am writing as we speak to the makers of 'dolly the sheep' to get you cloned, I am already a fan of yours!! I actually think if the council was run by the council and not by a cabinet we might get more of what the public want and not what a few dimwits with a cabinet title want. Lets face it why do we have fifty plus councillors if all decisions are done by the mighty seven ( is it seven?). As for parking in residential Streets, I read the transport plan in between nodding off, It does actually state that the solution to the lack of long stay car parking is that car users should drive into residential areas park up and walk into town....Well lets hope Colin can get out of his drive in a few years time because it will be the only place anyone can afford to park all day after the Merton Meadow car Park closes.
Glenda Powell Posted June 27, 2013 Report Posted June 27, 2013 Wendy, I agree the cabinet system doesn't work that is why you see me writing to the press about all the money that is being wasted! I do not think my council colleagues would appreciate you having me cloned, a few would prefer it if I wasn't a councillor!
Biomech Posted September 2, 2013 Report Posted September 2, 2013 but another super market? Not required in my opinion, But we only have 8 Colin! It will be very interesting to see where all of the town workers who rely on Merton Meadow to park end up. Also, we need a cull on Taxi's, there are FAR too many which is why I imagine the price is through the roof. I actually don't get taxi's home from the pub anymore, the expense has almost pushed me into drink driving home, but I often walk it now. And we know there are too many as the drivers complain of lack of work and over saturation. Take a look at Asda where the taxi rank is jammed and at least 3x more taxi's block the rest of the car park on the Kindle end.
Colin James Posted September 2, 2013 Report Posted September 2, 2013 Yes, I agree with you, but the taxi issue is for a topic of it's own. Are there plans for additional parking spaces in the multi storey?
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