Castletown Parking

70-plus

Well-Known Forumite
Can someone tell us what is happening about Castletown Parking scheme. It all seems to have gone very quiet lately.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
MarkHeenan said:
As for a definite timetable, I'm afraid I can't give you one. Sorry, but whatever timetable I set out would turn out wrong. The scheme is on a relatively large scale, involves a large amount of technical detail, and necessitates many bits of signage and line painting, each of which requires a legally enforceable traffic order. The officers tell me that having it in by the summer should be possible, including some hiccups, and that's as specific as I can be.
Seems you just have to wait for the professionals to undertake their onerous duties as fast as is humanly possible.
 

basil

don't mention the blinds
Legals, technicals, signage, painting etc could run into £ks given the current economic situation for both BC and CC unless it'll create revenue this type of scheme is gonna fall way down the 'to do' list.......
 

gilbert grape

Well-Known Forumite
"Cabinet member for highways Mike Maryon said the council could not run the scheme without the support of residents.

He said: “The pricing for permits and one-off set-up cost are not set in stone but have been based on what it is expected to cost the council to set up the scheme and the subsequent enforcement. The highways department has a limited budget and cannot divert additional funding to residents’ schemes at the expense of the wider taxpayer.”

So, about £10k from the residents paying a set up fee is expected is it? Then, permit fees on top of that? Do the maths......
Add to that the money being paid in fines by residents who get punished by the robots who stalk our streets and its a profit making scheme rather than purely control of an area.
When somebody can get a ticket while they're parked two foot over the yellow lines while inside a house organising a parents funeral, but people can rat run through a one way street and its fine, I think it's totally immoral the way things are handled!
If residents are going to be charged we need some constistency and common sense. I very rarely see any!
 

Mr X

Well-Known Forumite
£50 might seem a lot, but this equates to 96p per week - what would 96p buy you? If you lived further out of the town, 96p only buys you 1-2 hours on a public car park, but the 96p in Castletown gives you town centre parking 24/7!

The council may be getting quite a high income from the charges, but it has got to be enforced properly otherwise there is no point in the scheme. Traffic wardens cost money and somebody has got to pay for them!

Also remember that the roads do not belong to the residents, but to the council. The council can choose to do whatever they want with the roads. If they had reason to do it, they could put double yellow lines along every metre of road, or they could make it chargable parking with coin-fed meters. I think that the scheme is actually a reasonable amount of money considering that parking should become much easier in the area. That said, if I lived in Castletown then I would probably want the cost reducing too - it's what most people would want!
 

gilbert grape

Well-Known Forumite
I think if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive. Residents are now going to have to pay for these permits but still wont have 24/7 protection. There are time limits so we dont get the luxuries you might expect. Permits are for daytime between certain hours as well as part of the weekend so its far from 24/7.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Are the permits for the same timeframe that the council car parks are monitored? If so it should help a lot, as many people would just use Sainsburys/Wilkos etc. rather than try to park outside somebodies place in Castletown?

If you wont join the scheme, I assume you are then banned from parking in Castletown at all during restricted hours?
 

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
tek-monkey said:
Are the permits for the same timeframe that the council car parks are monitored?
I would imagine it would be "permit holders only" between say 4:30pm and 8:30am..... If the streets around there are empty around there during the day then anyone who wants to should be able to park there. Its only at night when you can't park near your house should the "permit only" situation be in operation IMHO.
 

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
gilbert grape said:
I think if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive.
But instead you chose a house with "free for all" parking outside and saved the cash..... so why moan now.... either campaign against the residents parking permit situation or pay up and reap the benefits... don't expect it for free.
 

basil

don't mention the blinds
gk141054 said:
gilbert grape said:
I think if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive.
But instead you chose a house with "free for all" parking outside and saved the cash..... so why moan now.... either campaign against the residents parking permit situation or pay up and reap the benefits... don't expect it for free.
in complete agreement there....... bloody hell is there something wrong with me?.........
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
gilbert grape said:
I think if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive. Residents are now going to have to pay for these permits but still wont have 24/7 protection. There are time limits so we dont get the luxuries you might expect. Permits are for daytime between certain hours as well as part of the weekend so its far from 24/7.
If you can afford to do this then why didn't you? If it was a question of drive or no drive, money no object then its a no brainer.

Planning on making good use of my driveway this summer - going to have a BBQ on it and sell burgers to pissed people leaving the morris man :D
 

gilbert grape

Well-Known Forumite
gk141054 said:
gilbert grape said:
I think if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive.
But instead you chose a house with "free for all" parking outside and saved the cash..... so why moan now.... either campaign against the residents parking permit situation or pay up and reap the benefits... don't expect it for free.
If I've lived round here all my life why should I move? Anybody who lives in the area "moans" about the situation, even non-drivers!
I expect free & fair treatment, as everybody should have. I also want consistency and when you get booked while visiting your Father in the same area whilst sorting your Mums funeral(parked for maybe two hours), then some muppett dumps a big charabang in exactly the same spot a week later and leaves it all day without a ticket, you have every right to be hacked off!!! There's rules but no consistency and common sense. If you live outside the area and you sit in judgement of folks round here, thats your choice. You obviously dont know all the facts and dont have to put up with selfish inconsiderate people.
 

gilbert grape

Well-Known Forumite
shoes said:
gilbert grape said:
I think if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive. Residents are now going to have to pay for these permits but still wont have 24/7 protection. There are time limits so we dont get the luxuries you might expect. Permits are for daytime between certain hours as well as part of the weekend so its far from 24/7.
If you can afford to do this then why didn't you? If it was a question of drive or no drive, money no object then its a no brainer.

Planning on making good use of my driveway this summer - going to have a BBQ on it and sell burgers to pissed people leaving the morris man :D
I didnt say I could actually afford a bigger mortgage, I'd just have to dig myself deeper into debt. Living near your parents where you can have your own independence and still be there to help....now thats a no brainer!
 

shoes

Well-Known Forumite
The way you wrote your comment came across as "I opted for a house without a driveway as I didn't need one and it was cheaper" - I see where your coming from though, avoiding deeper debt is the smart choice. I must have just misunderstood you POV from the previous post.
 

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
shoes said:
I must have just misunderstood you POV from the previous post.
Don't think you or I did misunderstand... before Mr Grape was moaning about having to pay for the residents permit to park outside his house - "if i'd wanted to pay for the honour to park outside my own house i would've got a bigger mortgage and bought a house witha drive"

That is the bit we disagreed with but now he has changed his story to moaning about getting a ticket / lack of consistency and about people parking there that shouldn't.

It is understandable to be upset at the loss of a loved one without getting a ticket on top of that - no one disagrees with that.

No one is saying you should move, we are saying that you knew the situation when you brought your house and so you can't moan about it now.

If you're unhappy that you'll have to pay to park outside your house - either start a campaign against the parking permit system being introduced or pay up and you will get the benefit of more convenience parking in your street.
 

henryscat

Well-Known Forumite
Mr X said:
£50 might seem a lot, but this equates to 96p per week - what would 96p buy you? If you lived further out of the town, 96p only buys you 1-2 hours on a public car park, but the 96p in Castletown gives you town centre parking 24/7!

The council may be getting quite a high income from the charges, but it has got to be enforced properly otherwise there is no point in the scheme. Traffic wardens cost money and somebody has got to pay for them!

Also remember that the roads do not belong to the residents, but to the council. The council can choose to do whatever they want with the roads. If they had reason to do it, they could put double yellow lines along every metre of road, or they could make it chargable parking with coin-fed meters. I think that the scheme is actually a reasonable amount of money considering that parking should become much easier in the area. That said, if I lived in Castletown then I would probably want the cost reducing too - it's what most people would want!
Agree with most of that - although is the income vs the cost of enforcement that far out? How many houses are in Castletown.... say 300@ £50 is £15,000/year. The cost of employing a warden is going to be a lot more than that (although you'd only need a few warden hours a week I'd guess), plus cost of lining / advertising all the legal stuff / dealing with tickets. It probably isn't that outrageous.

Problem is that some people think that driving and/or parking is a right and it isn't.
 
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