Some residents commute to London and Cambridge every-day. Just because they live in Ely – does that make them more deserving of a free space in our City Centre than a commuter from Soham for instance, whose Council Tax is also paying for the car parks?

In my view, the only way to restrict take-up would be to charge a lot for a permit – as much as parking in Angel Drove – but this idea went down like a lead balloon with residents.

In truth most of them manage fairly well by parking on-street at night and moving into a long-stay car park at 8:30 in the morning for the rest of the day.

However, there is hope that once we have control of on-street parking, we shall be able to offer a reasonably priced residents’ parking scheme for those that want it. We are awaiting the result of a review that is being carried out at the moment.

Money is not really anything to do with it. Lack of land is the problem – they’re not making any more of it.

First of all what plans to charge for parking in Ely are you talking about? There are no plans that I am aware of. However, the Council has just sanctioned a review of all our car parking options – both charged for and free, off-street and on-street – ready for when responsibility for the latter passes over to the Council from the Police.

I have made a note of your comments, which are very valid, and typical of the sort of issues that the review will consider.

My recollection of previous assessments of car park provisions leads me to believe that parking will always be a burden on the tax payer whatever we do, because charging a realistic fee in a town as small as Ely will probably not even cover running costs.

However, with the prospect of us soon to be taking over control of on-street parking as well as car parks, there is hope that the review team with come up with some alternative options that will benefit trade and serve the best interests of residents, shoppers and visitors.

Perhaps status quo will be recommended, or maybe a mixture of free and charged for spaces to encourage greater use of less popular car parks.

If anyone out there has the perfect solution – now is the time to let us know.

Jackie Petts
District Councillor, Ely East
Member, Environment & Transport Committee

Jackie Petts
District Councillor, Ely East
Member Environment and Transport Committee

This is how the vote went though:

CAR PARKING REGULATIONS

The Committee considered a report, reference H265, previously circulated, which outlined further amendments to the car park regulations.

It was resolved:

(i) That an increase in Business Permits as set out in Para 4.2 be agreed with a further review in 12 months: UNANIMOUS.

(ii) That the inclusion of all Ely business rate payers to the eligibility criteria for business permits be agreed: UNANIMOUS.

(iii) That the implementation of free Saturday parking at Angel Drove car park on cessation of Park and Ride service be agreed: 6 FOR – 3 AGAINST.

(iv) That existing Saturday early morning restrictions for long stay car parks be retained: 6 FOR – 0 AGAINST – 3 ABSENTIONS.

(v) That changes to accommodate parking of market trader vehicles as set out in Para 4.6 and implementation of a Market Trader permit scheme be agreed: UNANIMOUS.

It seems obvious to me that it didn’t even cross their minds that the new regulations would discriminate residents of Ely as it wasn’t even on the voting agenda.

The issue is that there is no clear thoughts or “fair” policies for residents or commuters.

As a commuter I am also a taxpayer to the same council as the residents of Ely.
Ely is my local town and train station, the costs for the “Commuter/Park and Ride” car park is unjust and is a blatant rip off of people who have to commute to work.

The “I’m alright Jack” attitude of free staff parking at the council offices should be stopped. Perhaps this “perk” should be taxed at the same rate as it costs other people to park get to work.

Make your vote count on June 4th!

Firstly, I think you’ll find Newmarket does have a train station.

Secondly, yes, they do charge for parking in Newmarket, but I don’t begrudge paying 30p for 2hrs etc. up to a maximum of £2.30 for all day.

The Aldi planning application could not be legally refused anyway. Ely is vulnerable all the time we do not have a legally ratified plan.

So are you saying Aldi will be supplying a substantial short-stay car-park? I can’t see them being best pleased if their patrons car-park is used as short stay while people walk uptown.

Regarding new, bigger and better shops. Yes we want them – but not where they will blight the City for the next fifty years. Ely is small, we are running out of space, and mistakes have a hugh impact.

The new Aldi store is not ideally positioned, but until we get the Local Development Framework ratified and with it the Master Plan for Ely, we can only fight off opportunistic development with planning law. Aldi will be very close to Market Place with pedestrian access from The Vineyards, so it will bring people into town, I think. I do not believe it is the sort of shop that sells everything one needs on a weekly basis.

Proposals for the future development of Ely were on display at The Lamb Hotel in Ely last week and you can see them on the Council website at the moment and make your comments. These ideas have come from the public, not the Council, and will be used to produce a draft document for further public consultation. You will see that there are some brilliant ideas for the station area and riverside.

Ely Masterplan Information

Jackie Petts
District Councillor
Ely East

Parking in Ely City Centre is free by overwhelming public demand. Does he want this changed?

In answer to his questions about me I most certainly face the same sort of pressures as every other working person and collect more than my fair share of parking fines – especially in Cambridge where I regularly need to park in the city centre, to make deliveries.

Being self-employed, I am fortunate enough to work from home, but I have done my fair share of commuting in the past. It’s horrible and I have every sympathy for people who have to do it on a daily basis. Wouldn’t it great if we could bring the jobs here?

Living in Prickwillow as I do, the new parking rules allow me to park in Ely and shop, something that had become almost impossible. I did and still do cycle if I have the time and the weather’s decent, but not to shop, but I must confess to never having used the Park and Ride. I do use Angel Drove when taking the train, usually to London for the day on business.

Jackie Petts
District Councillor, Ely East

I tend to agree with this. How can our council agree to have an Aldi situated out-of-town (Lisle Lane) and refuse Lidl because it is out-of-town?

Do the councillor’s seriously think shoppers are going to walk to Aldi to do their weekly shop?

They will do what they they currently do – park in Brays Lane – do all the quick in City shopping – maybe go to Waitrose – leaves Brays Lane and drive to Tesco. All done in a car!

Nothing will change.

My parents no longer shop in Ely. They alternate their weekly shop with trips to Kings Lynn, Huntingdon, Cambridge and Newmarket.

2) People who want to come to the City before this 8:30am parking rule should be able to come on a saturday to shop. Well I used come, but now I shop at Tesco then come to town for anything else i need after this parking rule.

3) When are the councillor’s going to listen to the people of this great City – we want the new stores, not only tesco but the other supermarkets that keep trying to come here……..

I take it you live in Ely? Do you walk to work? How do you travel Cllr Petts and where do you park?

I’d like to know how these new rules which you impose affect you and your life. Do you ever use the Park and Ride?

Many thanks.

I’ll check for your response when I return from using Newmarket’s highly commendable parking scheme.

Talking of which, Newmarket don’t seem to have many congestion/parking problems, strange that. Maybe you could take a leaf out of their book.

‘plans to introduce charges in existing City Centre car parks’

‘on-street parking charges for visitors and residents would seem inevitable’

If and when East Cambs gets control of on-street parking and the right to provide on-street parking for residents, we shall be faced with the problem of how to pay for policing and administration. I don’t see how that can be financed by fines alone and on-street parking charges for visitors and residents would seem inevitable. However, I have heard the view expressed that a small town such as ours would find it impossible to cover the whole cost from fines and charges and that parking would always be a burden on the tax payer.

Charging is not something that I would like to see at a time when traders are struggling to keep their heads above water. Any suggestions – apart from asking everyone to stick to the rules voluntarily?

Jackie Petts
District Councillor, Ely East

@ Jackie Petts:

I hope you are not planning to introduce short term parking charges in Ely!

The effect of the new car park has been very beneficial for high Street trade and it is undoubtedly much easier for shoppers to park if they avoid always opting for Waitrose. You can park for four hours in Broad Street, for instance, and all day from 8:31 in the long-stays.

The Park and Ride bus from Angel Drove is not appealing. The nearest safe place for the bus to stop is at Tescos making it far less user-friendly than the successful Downham Road P&R.

The Angel Drove facility was built to free up the city centre from commuters and is sited as near to the station as practical short of blowing up Tescos – the positioning of the latter being a brilliant example of lack of long-term Master Planning!

Jackie Petts
District Councillor, Ely East

East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats are calling for a stay of execution for Ely’s Angel Drove Park and Ride.

They want to give the service another chance to see if it can be successful by offering free parking on Saturday, good signage and with the bus pulling into the car park to pick up passengers instead of collecting from Tesco.

The Tories plan to axe the service in June because they claim low take up by passengers has meant it is not viable to continue.

But Lib Dems believe the service is essential to keep cars out of Ely city centre and allow businesses to grow and they are calling for it to be given a nine month trial from June.

On Tuesday they will put their idea before East Cambridgeshire District Council members as they meet to set next year’s budget.

The group will be asking for £12,000 to be made available in the budget for the trial. The money could come from the unexpected increase in the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive Grant of £39,000, they claim.

East Cambridgeshire Lib Dem group leader, Haddenham councillor Gareth Wilson said: “A really effective park and ride scheme, keeping cars out of the city centre and directing shoppers to the centre rather than Tesco, would be a useful way to grow Ely businesses. If it proves successful then everyone will see the benefit of keeping it.

“We have to take action to rid Ely city centre of cars while at the same time offering people easy access. I don’t believe we have given this Park and Ride a fair chance and there is money available to find out whether it could work and prove a long-term solution.”

This council can’t make up it’s mind on parking permits for local people who have to keep moving thier cars because of these mad parking rules.

Dear councillors pull your fingers out before you lost your job on the council all will be remembered.

Ed: The Tories plan to axe the service in June because they claim low take up by passengers has meant it is not viable to continue.

The new rules restrict parking in Long Stay car parks to 90 min between 8:00 – 10:00 each morning from Monday to Saturday. This is the time that most commuters set off from the station and is an easily policed time slot for City Rangers. Visitors arriving at 8:31 in a long stay car park can stay free of charge for the rest of the day.

Earlier commentators bewailing the cost of building the new car park on Angel Drove seem to have overlooked the value of the land.

Also, it is only city workers who need to come into Ely before 8:30 who are entitled to purchase a permit exempting them from the new rules.

Residents who leave the City before 8:30 are the worst affected by the new rules as they can no longer leave their cars behind without making special arrangements, parking on-street, or paying to park in Angel Drove. We are very hopeful that this problem will be resolved fairly soon, when the District Council wins the right to manage on-street parking, currently the responsibility of the police.

Jackie Petts
District Councillor, Ely East

Not exactly welcoming for any weekday visitor is it ?

Last Thursday – being market day – the number of spaces in the Barton road car park empty would surprise you, this is because people will not come in to park because of the thought of getting a £30 ticket, its time this council was given it’s orders to march.

The Council have spent £1 million of “our” money “building” a car park, that in itself is absolutely ridiculous,is it gold plated? is it multi-story? is it undercover? NO but then they to try and cynically pass it off as Park and Ride, THIS IS ELY FOR GOODNESS SAKE NOT CAMBRIDGE, as it is you have to walk halfway to town to get the bloomin’ bus and it only operates on a Saturday!!!

Let’s hear the truth, they built a car park to try and cash in on the commuters (commuters are taxpayers by the way) then they cynically set the price at ~70% of the already ridiculously high rip-off charges of the train car-park operator (nothing to do with the rip-off rail company); then they don’t have the brains to think of offering a season ticket until petitioned by users, AND NOW instead of offering the price at the ~70% rate, (the rip off merchants charge £527pa, by the way) this shower of a council want £506pa !!!! It’s not even the most convenient of car parks, it has no direct path to the train station, it’s a route march along a busy stretch of road, across a busy junction between 2 roundabouts and then across Tesco car park. GET A GRIP …The price should be at the very worst £370pa at your already ridiculously over-inflated prices , change this now.

They should just get on with it and charge for parking like everywhere else in the country and build a multi-story car park at one of the car parks. In Newmarket the first 30 mins is free and then it’s 30p for 2 hours – just do the same in Ely.

I also think they should let the residents have parking permits. The current council stance is disgusting. They have been outrageous making light of and ignoring the view of the reisdents who pay for their wages. Also they should let the workers have a cut price parking permit, which is common practice everywhere else.

Why should workers that do not pay any tax towards Ely’s upkeep get FREE parking? The council members should come out of their little glass offices an talk to the people! We cannot wait 6 months to see if the council will change it’s small mind about parking permits for local people…

I CALL ON ALL PEOPLE IN SILVER STREET AND PARADE LANE ON SUNDAY FEB 3RD TO PARK OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE IN THE ROAD TO SHOW WHAT HAPPENS!

Remember this is the same Council that are up in arms about the proposed development at Mereham but I don’t recall the same condemnation about the 1000′s of houses that now clog the outskirts of Ely adding to the congestion we are now discussing.

Unfortunately it is always too little, too late with ECDC.

Come on think about other people!

Then would you vote for me?

Jackie Petts.

Can I just remind you, that everyone pays council tax, so that should not come into your argument – Whether you work in Ely, Cambridge or Soham, it doesn’t matter.

Ely has been encouraged to be a commuter city.

Also, your comment to Mr Bignell: firstly well done for spending £1millon pounds of our money, you haven’t actually provided anything seeing that everyone has to spend £2.50 per day to park (therefore we’re paying for it over the top of council tax). Also, You DONT charge half of what the railway charges. They charge 3.50 per day. £2.50 is a little bit more than half of £3.50 if you hadn’t noticed.

I’m looking forward to see how full these car parks are going to to become after taking all the commuters out of them, I suppose they will be the next target for housing!!! I’m sure that Ely market isn’t soooooo popular that all car parks will be full.

I tried to park in the new car park the other day, but I couldn’t find the way in, so instead, i did park and ride at cambridge – much easier.

Seriously, I used to do a lot of shopping in Ely after work, I’ll be more inclined now to stay in Cambridge.

You seem very confident that the new arrangements are going be popular – unfortuately, I haven’t seen anyone, reply on here to back you up – yet…..

The District Council is not ignoring commuters. We have just spent £1 million of taxpayers money on providing you with a car park just four minutes walk from the station. It has plenty of spaces and you pay half what the railway charges in their car park- just £2.50.

No Council in the land would give you this £1million pound car park for free.

As for development. We have been required by law to build more and more homes. Ely has grown by 33% in the last few years. The town has also been a political football for the last 8 years and every attempt to solve the lack of suitable employment for newcomers has been thwarted by politically motivated factions.

Now at least things are being allowed to happen. The new Council has only been operating since May. Our first priority is to let in the businesses, retail outlets, shoppers and visitors that are itching to come here.

We must unclog the city centre to help this happen.

I do not blame you for being upset about your personal inconvenience, but you should try and look at the whole picture and not just how it affects you. The truth is there is no affordable land for more parking in the City Centre and the Government is making things even worse by insisting that we grant planning permission to new developments with no parking provision.

By the way, people who can’t afford to buy cars may not be your problem, but if they pay Council Tax, you are most certainly a burden to them.

May I wish you a happy and prosperous new year.

Jackie Petts

I no longer live in the area, but used to commute to London from Wicken via Ely on a daily basis.

Like Peter Cousins point, it was actually cost neutral to drive and take the tube from Epping as it was the train all the way. While the parking charges are nominal, it all adds up, particularly with constant increases in rail fares.

As I came into Ely every day, I shopped in Tesco, I did late night shopping in town and met friends (also commuters) in Ely’s restaurants. I assume that you’d prefer other people like me to have avoided Ely altogether and spent my money elsewhere??

Ely could really benefit from realising the value of commuters by recognising the importance of its position and the hub function it has for many (try parking at the station after 7am..), but it will never do so as long as councillors simply see non-Ely residents who use its facilities as a problem.

Of course we should aim to encourage enterprise to the area, but likewise Ely’s elected leaders need to understand that the shape and drivers of society have changed with increased wealth, opportunity and personal mobility. The argument about sustainability you hinted at isn’t helped by discouraging people from making ‘good choices’ (to commute by train) just because it imports a few localised problems you’d rather not be hassled with. If the council didn’t want that, why bother granting planning permission to all the new houses around the city – the vast majority of which I’d imagine are owned by people who commute to Cambridge, London or elsewhere.

You talk about contributing to the wealth of the city. A huge amount of wealth passes through Ely’s railway station on a daily basis. If these people can’t be tempted to work in the city, the city would do much better trying to encourage them to spend their money on goods and services the city can offer (before 8am and after 6pm….) than simply getting a few quid from parking fees. Think of it this way – people moan at £2 to park all day, but give no thought whatsoever to handing over much more than that for a coffee, muffin and newspaper every morning…

Besides, parking for young people who cannot afford a car is not really a problem is it??? And people who live in Ely really should walk or cycle – its not that big a place!!!

Why should East Cambridgeshire tax payers subsidise your commute to Cambridge to work and spend your money?

It is the Council’s ambition to encourage business and commercial growth locally (including Soham) and reduce the need for residents to commute. We have to start somewhere and helping local traders and not a private rail company is an obvious way forward. We must not allow our towns to become mere dormitories for Cambridge and London.

Pleas from commuters that they cannot afford the charges at the new car park don’t wash with me. There are young people living and working in Ely who can’t even afford to insure a car let alone own one. They pay Council Tax too and they contribute to the wealth of the City.

Cllr Jackie Petts, Ely East

So, to ‘relieve congestion in Ely’ a commuter car park has been made available out of the inner-city and next to the train station – brilliant! Ideal. But why charge? If the problem is that there are too many cars in the centre of Ely, the new car park is ideal. But it seems that what is actually happening is that ECDC has seen another way to drain some money out of us – another money making scheme. I currently pay around £20 a week (£900ish per year taking into account holidays) in train tickets to get to work (plus car travel to ely – as there is one bus per hour from soham to ely – if you’re lucky). I cannot justify paying £11 per week (£500 per yr), just to park.

For these reasons, I shall now have to go back to the way I used to get to work – driving to Cambridge, and using park and ride – it’s not very convenient, but it costs around the same as getting the train used to before these parking charges. So, I shall be another car back on the road, congesting the A14!
So much for wanting to increase the use of public transport!

So overall, Ely will lose out around £1000 from me alone. I wonder how many others will be moving their custom away from Ely.
Ely’s loss is Cambridge’s gain!