AT LAST - THE COUNCIL ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT
PARKING
We have been very quiet since the council
elections in May, hoping that the new council would act on their promises to
look at the increasingly pressing problems of traffic and parking throughout the
county.
TOMORROW 11th September on the
agenda for decision by the new cabinet is a report by County Councillor W. B.
Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Highways
The full report has a number of
qualifications and no mention is made of residents’ parking permits; however lifting
the moratorium is the essential first step and perhaps, the culmination of
almost two years lobbying by CRAP and many other interested parties.
SUBJECT: Prohibition and Restriction of
Waiting
Traffic Regulation Orders
The full text of the agenda can be found on
However, for the purpose of this blog, we
quote selected parts from the agenda:
The County Council, as local Highway
Authority, is empowered to make,
amend and revoke Traffic Regulation Orders
to benefit traffic management
and road safety. The procedure for making a TRO is prescribed
by legislation
and includes a statutory duty to consult
with bodies such as the police as well
as locally.
There is a similar process for TRO amendment or revocation and
in each case legal and advertising costs
are incurred.
Since April 2009 the County Council has had
a general moratorium on all
TROs, in order to generate relatively
modest savings.
It is therefore recommended that the
current moratorium on waiting restrictions and prohibitions should be lifted to
allow the results of the reviews to be implemented and Orders added or amended where
appropriate. This report proposes the removal of the
current moratorium on Traffic
Regulation Orders (TROs) which relate to
the prohibition and restriction of
waiting, subject to the reinstatement of a
budget for the Orders. Lifting of the
moratorium is required in order to respond
to local demand for revision of
TROs, and the review and possible amendment
of existing restrictions
following the implementation of Civil
Parking Enforcement (CPE) in April 2011.
Options
Considered/Available To “do nothing” would not be a realistic
option as the Council’s commitment to
review current TROs will establish a demand
for amendments. Legal
requirements would guide the process
following a decision to proceed.
Preferred Choice and ReasonsLifting the moratorium, reinstatement of a
budget, and the introduction of aprocess for assessing, ranking and
prioritising TROs will enable the preparation
and implementation of TROs, with effect
from the April 2013 onwards, and will
allow Members’ and local communities’
requests to be evaluated and
progressed.
A NEW CAR PARK FOR HAY-ON-WYE?
One of CRAP’s recommendations for
Hay-on-Wye was the establishment of overflow public car parking, with some
element of residents’ parking in the parking area of the town’s cattle market
when it is not being used for market purposes.
We understand that our proposal is being considered as part of the
council’s proposals for parking in Hay.
Fingers crossed!
A NEW RESPONSIBLE COUNCIL OFFICER?
It appears from the Powys County Council
website that Kevin Lloyd has been replaced by a new officer Tony Caine as the
new Traffic Systems and Road Safety Manager.
If so, his will not be an easy role and we wish him every success in the
future.
PARKING, HAY FESTIVAL, MARY PORTAS AND HAY CASTLE
AT LAST - THE COUNCIL ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT
PARKING
We have been very quiet since the council
elections in May, hoping that the new council would act on their promises to
look at the increasingly pressing problems of traffic and parking throughout the
county.
TOMORROW 11th September on the
agenda for decision by the new cabinet is a report by County Councillor W. B.
Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Highways
The full report has a number of
qualifications and no mention is made of residents’ parking permits; however lifting
the moratorium is the essential first step and perhaps, the culmination of
almost two years lobbying by CRAP and many other interested parties.
SUBJECT: Prohibition and Restriction of
Waiting
Traffic Regulation Orders
The full text of the agenda can be found on
However, for the purpose of this blog, we
quote selected parts from the agenda:
The County Council, as local Highway
Authority, is empowered to make,
amend and revoke Traffic Regulation Orders
to benefit traffic management
and road safety. The procedure for making a TRO is prescribed
by legislation
and includes a statutory duty to consult
with bodies such as the police as well
as locally.
There is a similar process for TRO amendment or revocation and
in each case legal and advertising costs
are incurred.
Since April 2009 the County Council has had
a general moratorium on all
TROs, in order to generate relatively
modest savings.
It is therefore recommended that the
current moratorium on waiting restrictions and prohibitions should be lifted to
allow the results of the reviews to be implemented and Orders added or amended where
appropriate.
This report proposes the removal of the
current moratorium on Traffic
Regulation Orders (TROs) which relate to
the prohibition and restriction of
waiting, subject to the reinstatement of a
budget for the Orders. Lifting of the
moratorium is required in order to respond
to local demand for revision of
TROs, and the review and possible amendment
of existing restrictions
following the implementation of Civil
Parking Enforcement (CPE) in April 2011.
Options
Considered/Available
To “do nothing” would not be a realistic
option as the Council’s commitment to
review current TROs will establish a demand
for amendments. Legal
requirements would guide the process
following a decision to proceed.
Preferred Choice and Reasons
Lifting the moratorium, reinstatement of a
budget, and the introduction of a
process for assessing, ranking and
prioritising TROs will enable the preparation
and implementation of TROs, with effect
from the April 2013 onwards, and will
allow Members’ and local communities’
requests to be evaluated and
progressed.
A NEW CAR PARK FOR HAY-ON-WYE?
One of CRAP’s recommendations for
Hay-on-Wye was the establishment of overflow public car parking, with some
element of residents’ parking in the parking area of the town’s cattle market
when it is not being used for market purposes.
We understand that our proposal is being considered as part of the
council’s proposals for parking in Hay.
Fingers crossed!
A NEW RESPONSIBLE COUNCIL OFFICER?
It appears from the Powys County Council
website that Kevin Lloyd has been replaced by a new officer Tony Caine as the
new Traffic Systems and Road Safety Manager.
If so, his will not be an easy role and we wish him every success in the
future.
PARKING, HAY FESTIVAL, MARY PORTAS AND HAY CASTLE
Hay Literary Festival this year was its
usual fascinating mix of erudition, entertainment and information – and this
year traffic chaos due to the quite horrific wet weather. Please Hay Festival organisers, make
contingency plans next year for such weather, prepare signage and enough
volunteers to guide traffic and don’t make it such that visitors could be
dissuaded from visiting again.
Among those participating was Mary Portas
who gave a very interesting talk on her plans to regenerate the centres of our
small towns. It was interesting to note
how important she thought intelligently formulated and sympathetically applied
car parking regulations are for the healthy commercial and social future of our
town centres.
In passing, national statistics show that
some 13% of town centre shop properties are now vacant; whilst this is
certainly not true of Hay (yet!) we cannot afford to be complacent and must
think through what our town centres will offer to attract people in the future.
Another talk was given by Trustees of the
Hay Castle Trust, who earlier this year bought Hay Castle
from Richard Booth, the ‘King of Hay’.
They have exciting and ambitious plans for the future of the castle
which is hoped will once assume its place as the central focus of the town, as
an arts and community centre offering an eclectic mix of entertainments and
exhibitions in what promises to be a very architecturally exciting restoration
and development.
The Hay Castle Trust have made initial
approaches to all sorts of funding bodies to help fund their plans and it was
interesting to note that a major factor is securing initial indications of
support from the Heritage Lottery Fund is the close proximity of the town
centre car park to the castle.
Apparently not many similar heritage properties have such an advantage
and the car park could well prove an important factor in helping secure future
funding.
