They have responded to the main concerns that residents expressed to the initial consultation back in February of this year in that:
- The first permit for each household will be free (second permits are to cost £20).
- There is no need to mark out bays on the roads
Unfortunately, it would appear that in order to provide permits to residents free of charge, the Council are proposing to raise funds for the scheme by selling a number of permits to hospital staff. However, these will be distributed throughout the six zones to reduce the impact in any one area.
The Council are again holding exhibitions on the proposals:
"at St. Gabriel’s Church, St. Gabriel’s Avenue on Monday 30th November 2009. City Council staff will be on hand at between 9am-12noon; 1pm-4pm and 6pm-8pm"
and
"At St Bede United Reformed Church on Thursday 3rd December between the hours of 9am-5pm. Staff will be available to answer any questions and provide further information on the proposal"
"There will also be a seven-day exhibition at Kayll Road Library from Monday 7th December"
The full consultation can be viewed at www.sunderland.gov.uk/traffic
I thought the meeting was a utter waste of time and needs another meeting with councillors, hospital representitives and residents. The concerns of all residents arent been listened too. The council proposing to introduce resident and visitor permits invades my human rights when the council say after 2 hours my guests have to leave or face a fine !!!! I will seek legal advise if this is introduced.
ReplyDeleteTo top it off the council rep present on Monday evening says " its only just over 20p aday whats the problem with paying for permits" Does she want to pay for everyone?
If your guests are displaying a visitor permit they can park for as long as they like. The problem comes when you have more than one guest.
ReplyDeleteWe should vote yes for this proposal. If we vote against it the council will propably decide that people don't want anything to be done and we will end up with things getting worse and worse. It is already unbearable! Accept this then fight to tweak!
ReplyDeleteHaving recently received the latest consultation paper from the council I would like to make a few points:
ReplyDelete1)Are people aware that residents living outside the red zones but inside the blue zones are also being asked to vote on the scheme? If we assume that residents within the red zone have the good sense to vote for the scheme - it's better than the status quo - the question must be asked: Are we being set up to be outvoted?
2)What are the alternatives for residents in the red zones? To do nothing will see the current parking problems continue to gather momentum as the hospital goes on expanding. Life for residents living nearby will become more and more unbearable. Our caring, sharing hospital has become a monster swallowing up all space within and external to its own grounds, doing nothing to alleviate the misery it brings to residents in the area.
3)My next point is do with greed or meaness. I would argue that the main reason many of the hospital staff park in our streets is because they are too mean to buy a parking permit. After all, many of the offenders are parked outside our homes and back lanes before 8.30am. They don't even try to park inside the hospital grounds, nor do they buy parking permits so bring on the permits for our streets! Maybe we will get rid of the early birds and meano's!
4)While I intend to vote for the proposed scheme I do think there are issues that we must continue debating and try to resolve with the council. Firstly, I would like to know how many parking permits will be offered to the dreaded hospital workers? The council argue that they can't say until they discover how many parking permits are needed by residents. All the more reason for residents within the red zone to respond. If not, the council may give out more permits than they should to the hospital. An even worse scenario is that the council allow the hospital too many permits regardless; after all it's a money spinner for them.
Secondly, the council dictates that we are to be allowed only one visitors parking permit per household. I don't think this is workable. Everyone has the right to friends visiting and family gatherings. If this is implemented the council take away our rights to a normal social life in order to cater for hospital workers parking outside our doors? It is not our fault the hospital does not provide sufficient space for its workforce and its customers. Let them sort out their own problems! Other councils have implemented voucher schemes for visitors parking. Residents are able to buy one book of vouchers per month with ten vouchers inside for £5 per book. At least this type of scheme would not restrict households to just one visitor at any one time. Another idea would be to operate the scheme from Monday to Friday, thus leaving weekends free for family and friends to visit. I am not sure if parking is less of a problem in all of the streets around the hospital at weekends but it is much less of a problem where I live. Leaving Saturday and Sunday free for all would also mean that the local churches and businesses would be catered for on their busiest days.
In sum then, let's vote provisionally for change and continue fighting for improvements to the current consultation paper. It is the best way forward.
my wife is a housewife with children and has visitors everyday and stay longer for 2 hours. The proposed scheme only has 1 visitor pass therefore the council is telling me my visitors have to leave, sorry they dont run my life and this is also invading my rights.
ReplyDeleteMore visitors passes needed and no cost why should i pay for the hospital problems? Move the hospital to Cherry knowle site its 4 times bigger than current site.