Powys County Council's proposals for Residents Parking in Hay displayed in Hay Public Library

Powys County Council's proposals for Residents Parking in Hay are being displayed in Hay Public Library from 3rd to 10th June.  Officers from Powys will be at the library on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th June so all interested parties should attend and ask as many questions as they wish.  We have attached some suggestions.

We hope you have all had a chance to see the Powys County Council proposals for a Hay-on-Wye Residents Parking Scheme which are displayed in Hay Library.  Powys staff will apparently be on site on Thursday and Friday and everyone is invited to complete a (rather inadequate) questionnaire and ask questions regarding the "options" available (It seems the options are to accept or reject the PCC proposals).

We are deeply unhappy at what seems to be a missed opportunity.  If this opportunity to start a sensible scheme is missed it will probably be a very long time before Powys will again address the problem.  We are unlikely to get a residents parking scheme in Hay - but perhaps that is the hidden agenda!

Anyway, attached are some questions we propose to ask the Powys representatives on Friday and we shall publicise their responses to our mailing list, on our blog and to the press.

QUESTIONS

Posters displayed around the town promoted a “Public Consultation” of a “Resident Parking Scheme” in Hay Library, promising “an exhibition of options for a Residents Parking Scheme in Hay on Wye will be on display”

1.     What are the other options being offered for consideration?

In order for the public to be able to make an informed judgement as to the proposals, the following must be made clear at the exhibition:

2.     What are the proposed time restrictions and operating days appropriate to each parking zone?

2a.    Where are these indicated and made available to the public?

3.     Is it proposed to include all council adopted streets in central Hay-on-Wye within the scheme?  Booth Gardens, de Breos Court etc.

4.     Will current parking areas not identified on the plan (e.g. Lion Street from Constitutional Club to junction of Heol-y-Dwr) be included in the scheme?

5.     Do PCC consider that the proposal to create a “shared use” parking zone of the six/seven spaces in Bell Bank will have any detrimental effect on local trade?  These spaces provide essential shoppers parking and long term residents parking might be disadvantageous.

6.     What action has been taken or is proposed regarding the community’s proposals to use the Cattle Market Car Park for additional residents/public parking when the market is not in use?

7.     What will happen to the responses gained from questionnaires completed during this consultation?

7a.    Will responses be made public?

8.     Will consultation/voting go ahead with ‘Properties Eligible for Permits’ as identified in the PCC proposals, irrespective of responses received from questionnaires?

9.     Will only ‘Properties Eligible for Permits’ (identified with stars on maps in the PCC proposals) be allowed to vote for individual street zone proposals?

10.    Will residents not living in ‘Properties Eligible for Permits’ be permitted to vote in any consultation process or be allowed to buy a Residents Parking Permit? (i.e. residents of Brook Street, Chancery Lane, much of Lion Street, Castle Street, etc.)

11.    Will voting be restricted only to householders without private parking or will all householders and businesses (as identified with stars on maps) be allowed to vote?

12.    Will householders separately occupying flats within one residence qualify for and voting and the right to apply for Residents Parking Permits if the scheme is approved?

13.    If restrictions on voting qualifications are to be enforced, how will this be done and by whom?

14.    How will voting response be audited?

15.    What percentage approval rate in any given street zone is required for the scheme to be implemented?

16.    Will voting responses be available for public inspection?

17.    Is the Powys County Council proposal all or nothing?  Must residents in all zones agree or can it be part implemented?

Summary

The PCC proposals are divisive. Parking is severely restricted in Hay-on-Wye.  Too many people, with too many cars, trying to park in too few places in an ancient town not designed for car parking. 

It is current practice, if one cannot find a parking space local to where one lives, to look for alternative space somewhere not too distant.  If Street Zones (SZs) are introduced, RPP holders will be unable to park elsewhere in the town other than in the few remaining (accidentally?) unrestricted areas.  This will prove unpopular and stressful and result in locals manoeuvring vehicles and proprietarily guarding their few available places.

Is the PCC proposed scheme of limiting parking to one street the best alternative?  Might not the better alternative be the community proposed scheme of Residents Parking Permit holders having the right to park in any designated shared Parking Zone?

The attraction of the Street Zone scheme for planners is obvious, it is more easily adapted for the different circumstances various town dictate and furthermore is very similar to the proposals already put forward by PCC officers.

A more flexible non-zonal inclusive RPP scheme representing an amalgam of the current PCC proposals and plans already produced by the community which allows holders of Residents Parking Permits to park in any designated Shared use Parking Zone in the town central area would prove to be more practical and welcome.

Inaccurate Mapping

PCC have made an attempt to list ‘Properties Eligible for Permits’ excluding those which already enjoy private off-road parking. (examples No. 7 Heol-y-Dwr - Brook House; The Old Forge, Lion Street etc.) but the listings are inaccurate.

Of 44 properties linked to Heol-y-Dwr Combined RPZ, 15 (34%) already enjoy private off-road parking.  Of 27 properties linked to Bear Street RPZ, 4 (15%) already enjoy private parking.  Of 50 properties, linked to Broad Street, 16 (32%) are commercial properties, not private residences and 10, (20%) already enjoy private parking