The Cheltenham Parking Puzzle

Something perplexes me every time I drive past the old Black

and White Coach Station and Portland Square car parks. Once these sites are

closed for redevelopment, where are the hundreds of cars that are using it on a

daily basis going to park? It's something I've been pondering on since the

boards went up advertising that the sites were for sale, and seems to be

indicative of a wider Cheltenham wide problem when it comes to providing

adequate parking for a town this size.

Anyone who has tried to find a parking space during the peak

periods at Christmas in Cheltenham will know that it is often a task beset with

stress and the risk of failure. During the many festivals staged each year in

Cheltenham, parking in the town centre is surely an essential part of attracting

an audience from a catchment area that far exceeds the locals of Cheltenham.

People visit the town from many miles away to experience the rich and varied

festival offerings that are meticulously put together each year. What will

their festival experience be like once they have to add an extra hour to their

trip just to find a parking space, or journey from the outskirts of town on the

Park and Ride?

Over the past 18 months, the council has steadily taken away

the number of free parking spaces that were fairly abundant around the town

centre and replaced them with metered parking spaces. In addition, large areas

of free residential parking have been replaced or are due to be replaced with

annual parking permits under the guise of making it better for local residents.

Many residents in Tivoli and Fairview have campaigned against the introduction of

parking permits as an unnecessary expense, with mixed success.

To me, the sale of the two large car park sites and the

implementation of widespread paid parking spaces in previously free parking

areas are intrinsically linked. The income generated from the widespread use of

parking metres and parking permits will undoubtedly make up for the large

amount of money no longer being generated by the two sites once they are closed

for public use. Even though there will be 609 spaces in the new development, these will be for for public use, the food

store and the hotel.

I've read with interest the council's plans to offer

discounts to motorists brave enough to park in the 'extraordinarily ugly'

Grosvenor Terrace car park. The uninviting and claustrophobic building is due

to be overhauled later this year when the two main car parks are closed,

however, the improvements would need to be on a fantastic scale to make it as

appealing as the space of the  open air

options currently available.

It makes me ask a more general question about parking

provision for key services in Cheltenham, not necessarily provided by the council.

The first site that is ludicrously under provided for in terms of short term

parking is the main Cheltenham Post Sorting Office off the Lower High Street.

Whenever I see a card dropped through my door telling me that a letter couldn't

be delivered and that I must pick it up from the main sorting office, my heart

sinks at the thought of having to run the gauntlet of the ridiculous parking

arrangements.

For a start, you have to be driving past the sorting office

towards Swindon Road rather than towards the Lower High Street for a decent

chance of nabbing one of the three paltry spaces available directly outside the

collection point. If you are driving towards the Lower High Street and get

stuck indicating to park when the flow of on-coming traffic is heavy (which is

when many people go to pick up their parcels - after work), you have very

little chance of receiving a courtesy wave from a car coming in the opposite

direction and will most likely have to drive to the Waitrose roundabout and

back to ensure that you are on the favourable side of the road. In addition to

this, the three spaces available are obviously not enough, especially around

Christmas when the number of packages to be collected rises sharply. So you end

up mounting the kerb, risking the wrath of other parcel collectors to join the

snaking queue that inevitably winds its way out of the compact waiting area and

along the pavement outside. The whole experience is extremely unpleasant and

ill thought out.

I'm surprised after all the years since the main sorting

office was built that people don't complain about it more – perhaps they've

just accepted the awful arrangement as something that can't be changed. The

truth of the matter is that the pavement outside is wide enough to provide a

good 6-8 spaces; yes, the pavement would need to be narrower, but it's not like

it's a main thoroughfare with crowds of pedestrians passing constantly by.

The other parking problem I've come across, is the provision

of exactly zero parking spaces at Cheltenham General Hospital dedicated for

people giving birth or visiting the maternity ward. When I had my first child

ten years ago, the parking at maternity/oncology end of the hospital was

available for all. My husband and I were absolutely flabbergasted when we went

to our first scan for our second child this year to realise that the entire

area had been given over to the oncology unit for those displaying the relevant

badge.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that the oncology

patients don't deserve a large proportion of the parking spaces, but the

midwife led maternity unit should receive a percentage of the parking spaces

available. Just what do expectant fathers do during those busy months of the

summer when the lido car park is full to capacity and the general parking

spaces at the front of the building are unavailable? It beggars belief to me.

When I enquired - rather perplexed - to the lady on the reception area in the

maternity unit, she replied wearily that I was quite welcome to make a

complaint about it and pointed out a piece of paper on the reception desk that

detailed where complaints could be directed. So I don't think I'm on my own at

finding this arrangement unfair and quite frankly, disturbing.

So what is the answer to the variety of parking problems in

Cheltenham? I don't know; but the current strategy seems to be solely aimed at

maintaining the income that will be lost when the two car parks close. I

haven't even touched on how the closure of the two car parks will impact the already

struggling town centre. This is the biggest question to me - how the council

proposes to maintain the image of Shoppers Paradise and Festival Central when

the people it wants to attract won't be able to find easily accessible parking.