The Full Entry
Ely’s New Parking Regulations
Published Friday, July 20th, 2007 by Karl Bedingfield
Car parks designed to meet the needs of shoppers, visitors and commuters are on the agenda at next week’s Environment and Transport Committee.
Council Chiefs will debate changes to the car park regimes within Ely designed to ensure city centre car parks are available specifically for visitors and shoppers, while commuters get their own car park at Angel Drove. This all means an increase of approximately 200 car parking spaces across the city.
Councillor John Seaman MBE, Chairman of the Environment & Transport Committee, said: “We have to strike a careful balance between all the people who want to use the car parks in Ely. Currently the city’s car parks and streets are imbalanced with too many spaces in the city centre being taken by long stay users. This forces shoppers and visitors to have to search in vain for a free space.
“The changes which are being put forward to next week’s Environment and Transport Committee aim to tackle this problem. With the new car park at Angel Drove opening in late autumn, we have an excellent opportunity to come up with new car parking regimes in addition to having approximately 200 extra spaces which will fit the needs of our city. The goal is to free up the car parking in the centre of Ely for shoppers and visitors while preventing those who do not need such prime locations from using these car parks.
There will also be morning restrictions on Barton Road, Fisherman’s Lane, and Ship Lane in order to encourage commuters to use the new Angel Drove car park.
“By coming up with these proposals, we have opened the possibility of tackling other issues such as replacing coach parking with car parking spaces in Barton Road. In addition, there will be increased enforcement. We will not be able to please everyone but I promise the proposals decided at Committee will be put to out to public consultation for everyone to give their opinions on the plans. “
Proposed Car Parking Regulatory Regimes
There will be changes to the short stay regimes at Newnham Street and St Mary’s Street will each have a maximum stay of three hours. Forehill car park will become a short stay car park only with the longest stay being four hours. On Saturdays the Grange will also have a 3-hour time limit with unrestricted evening parking. These will all be designed to benefit the thousands of shoppers who come to Ely.
| Car Parks & Max Times | Parking Spaces | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|
| Bray’s Lane (2 hours) | 291 Short Stay | No return within 2 hours |
| Newnham Street (3 hours) | 122 short stay, 5 disabled spaces | 3 hour between 8:30 and 6:00pm no return within 2 hours |
| St Mary’s Street (3 hours) | 69 spaces, 3 disabled, 4 motorcycle | 3 hour between 8:30 and 6:00pm - No return within 2 hours. Unrestricted parking at all other times |
| The Grange (3 hours) | 90 spaces available evenings and weekends | 3 hour between 8:30 and 6:00pm - no return within 2 hours |
| Forehill (4 hours) | 270 short stay plus 6 disabled & motor homes in specified wider bays | 4 hour between 8:30 and 6:00pm - no return within 2 hours. Unrestricted parking at all other times. |
Proposed Morning Restrictions On Car Parks
There will also be morning restrictions on Barton Road, Fisherman’s Lane, and Ship Lane in order to encourage commuters to use the new Angel Drove car park. The new commuter car park will cost £2.50 per day and will have a park and ride service every Saturday.
| Car Parks & Max Times | Parking Spaces | Restrictions |
|---|---|---|
| Barton Road | 193 Long Stay plus 5 disabled spaces (loosing coach bays) | Maximum period 90 minutes between 8:00 and 10:00am. Unrestricted parking at all other times |
| Hereward - Available evenings and weekends only (within Barton Road cr park) | Same restrictions at weekends | Maximum period 90 minutes between 8:00 and 10:00am |
| Newnham Street | 38 long stay plus 4 disabled spaces | Maximum period 90 minutes between 8:00 and 10:00am Unrestricted parking at all other times |
| Fishermans Lane | 25 spaces | Maximum period 90 minutes between 8:00 and 10:00am - Unrestricted parking at all other times |
| Ship Lane | 99 Long Stay plus 6 disabled | Maximum period 90 minutes between 8:00 and 10:00am - Unrestricted parking at all other times |
| Cresswells | 42 long stay, 2 disabled, 6 coach, 30 large vehicles | 14 Hour |
New Angel Drove Car Park Charges
| Parking Spaces | Charges | |
|---|---|---|
| New Angel Drove Car park | 188 spaces | £2.50 per day, every day including weekends, free bank holidays. £11.00 per week (7 day ticket) Park and Ride Saturdays 9:30 – 5:00 for no additional charge |
The public consultation for the new parking regime is provisionally scheduled to begin the week commencing 6th August over a three-week period. The final plans will be put in place during the autumn.
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At 1:27 pm on December 9th, 2007, scott wrote:
what about us workers who have to park all day and dont have time to move our cars, as for paying to park it is just more money which we dont have. It will not work and people will not come to Ely and shop they will go to bigger places like Cambridge. Little shops will have to close down. It is not what Ely need why waist money on this walke up and get in the real world before it is to late…….
At 11:20 am on December 11th, 2007, ed wrote:
I think these parking changes are absolutely stupid and will force commuters to fill up the residential streets nearer the station. I think the council need to realise that not everyone just sits around shuffling papers and coming up with moronic ideas, some people actually have to do worthwhile jobs for a living and have to commute.
Charging for parking on top of the increasing cost of rail travel will mean more people driving to work in Cambridge, clogging up the already jammed A10 and A14, causing additional morning chaos and pumping plenty more emissions into the atmosphere thus ending the world just a little bit quicker.
When will the council wake up and realise that the constant stream of ridiculous ideas spewing from their offices are not needed and will according to my logic, lead to the end of the world!
At 11:26 am on December 11th, 2007, Tommy wrote:
Agreed, once they have a lightbulb idea they will not change their mind though. Common sense does not come into it.
At 3:23 pm on December 20th, 2007, Peter Cousins wrote:
I live in Soham, and work in Cambridge.
For the past 3 or 4 months I have been driving to Ely, parking in Barton Road car park, walking to the train station and getting a train to Cambridge. I suppose I am part of ‘the problem’ these charges are trying to resolve.
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!
At 7:05 pm on December 27th, 2007, Cllr Jackie Petts, Ely East wrote:
How does your spending £1000.00 a year on train tickets help Ely?
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
At 3:13 pm on January 2nd, 2008, Martin Bignell wrote:
Cllr Petts - what a daft response!
Ely is a regional city and by virtue of its position on the rail network, a regional transport hub not only for the residents of Ely, but the surrounding villages.
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!!!
At 8:27 pm on January 3rd, 2008, Cllr Jackie Petts, Ely East wrote:
Mr Bignell,
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
At 7:36 pm on January 5th, 2008, P Coles wrote:
I have just been to Ely the new car park on Angel drove, there are no signs, so how are people to know about it? Also what about the car owners who live in Parade lane which do not have room to park in front of their houses, will they be getting permits to park on Barton road car park or will they have to get up and move it to another car park. What about the small car park set aside for Hereward housing why not remove the barrier so anybody can use it?
At 3:57 am on January 6th, 2008, Peter Cousins wrote:
OK, firstly, using your words: ‘It is the Council’s ambition to encourage business and commercial growth locally (including Soham) and reduce the need for residents to commute’, if you can find me a decent job - in Soham - that isn’t at a take away - please let me know.
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…..
At 12:27 pm on January 6th, 2008, Cllr Jackie Petts, Ely East wrote:
OK you win. Commuters are good for Ely and we should provide free parking in the City Centre for all of you along with free tea, coffee and buns.
Then would you vote for me?
Jackie Petts.
At 6:01 pm on January 12th, 2008, P Coles wrote:
I think you are getting very stupid Cllr. by saying we will give free tea, coffee and buns to people parking in the city. Its the poor people of Parade lane and Silver street who have nowhere to park other that the Broad street car-park, so help should given to then, after all it’s the people that live in the City who spend money in the shops all the year round and not just on one day visit to Ely!
At 6:53 pm on January 12th, 2008, Karl Bedingfield wrote:
I think Cllr. Petts tongue was firmly in-cheek (with a hint of sarcasm) to Peter Cousins earlier comment Mr. Coles.
At 9:51 pm on January 12th, 2008, P Coles wrote:
Yes her tongue-in-cheek was noted but this does not help the matter of the parking, how would you like to have to keep getting up after a long night-shift to keep moving your car so to comply with these new regulations on parking? Why we cannot be given permits to park as office or shop workers can I do not understand.
Come on think about other people!
At 2:52 pm on January 13th, 2008, Karl Bedingfield wrote:
Personally, I think the people who came up with the parking regulations forgot to consider the impact the morning parking restrictions would have on house owners who do not have a without a drive-way or lock-up.
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.
At 2:21 am on January 14th, 2008, Peter Cousins wrote:
I’m just a little disappointed that the professional people who we vote for and employ to be spokespeople for the publics interests, can only debate very childishly as displayed on this message board. I have not heard anyone as yet in support of the new parking regulations. Therefore are the council there to support the public opinion or their own single minded schemes? I have nothing against a council trying to do the best for their constituency, but if the constituency aren’t happy with what their councillors are doing, then what are they there for? Now obviously, a simple message board on a city website doesn’t give a detailed overview of public opinion, but I’d like to see how many people - Ely citizens or otherwise - are happy with these decisions. Basically my original point was that I am now driving to Cambridge to commute instead of using services in Ely. It’s no major inconvenience to me, but if I, one commuter from Soham, is doing that, then how many other people are now ignoring public transport and Ely? One moment pollution and saving the world is everyone’s responsibility, next, Ely’s too crowded for the next lot of houses we’re building, so forget the last thing everyone’s money went into, we need to make sure there’s enough parking for everyone in Ely who could reasonably cycle or walk into the centre.
At 5:38 pm on January 16th, 2008, Annie Gray wrote:
I think that Peter Cousins’ last remark is one which deserves more attention. While the ongoing debate on parking charges rumbles on, much of the congestion is caused by people living on the outskirts of Ely who could quite easily cycle or walk in (thereby helping their health at the same time). Most of the new houses currently built have one or two off road parking spaces (which does not stop on-road parking in the least) and therefore ample space to leave their cars and no real need to drive into the city centre. More could potentially be done to encourage wise car-use - the carrot rather than the stick as it were. For example cycle lanes and off-road routes around the dangerous points (the Gallery/Silver Street spring to mind) would help. I do not think Ely is too crowded, as long as any further expansion happens in line with infrastructure changes as required. It would be a shame if it were to lose its distinctive character as a small town (hello starbucks), so I am supportive of anything which encourages new - independent - businesses to flourish in what remains an attractive city centre. As Cllr. Petts remarks, there will always be those who are unhappy, but that’s life.
At 2:06 pm on January 23rd, 2008, Helen Wright wrote:
While I think that all comments made have some validity. Lets remember, when ever you enter of town/city, wherever it may be, you will be making use of their facilities. No council can provide these facilities totally free of charge, all of the time. The local tax payers of Ely are paying a small fortune for the opportunity to live in Ely and provide an environment suitable for all. I have noticed (as a new resident) that most car parks are free, we don’t have to pay to use the loos (which are always beautifully clean, the streets are always free from rubbish, you even get free fresh black bags ready for the next weeks collection and down by the waterfront - I can see that a lot of work goes into keeping this nice for visitors to make use of - FREE OF CHARGE. I think that we should step back a bit, stop moaning about having to pay a small charge for the privilege of parking. Some towns/cities charge stupid inflated prices for parking, cambridge for example. May be more effort would be better spent being grateful for what we have got, rather than moaning about it.
At 7:49 pm on January 23rd, 2008, Tommy wrote:
Our tax paid money has brought this car park!!!!!!! That’s all I have to say. Get some young minded people in the council with new ideas!
At 1:20 pm on January 26th, 2008, P Coles wrote:
I do not think people would mind a small charge for a parking permit to park all day long on Barton road, the alternative would be to dig up all car parks in the City area of Ely and build more houses so more cars can block the roads in the city to bring traffic to a stand still.
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!
At 6:45 pm on January 28th, 2008, Liz wrote:
I use Barton Road a lot and what worries me most about the new regulations is because they have no ticket machines there is no way of proving how long you have been in the car park if you get a parking ticket (of which I have seen a *lot* of on cars in the evenings). It’s just your word against theirs and I’m assuming they are going to believe the ticketing agents over the motorist.
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.
At 12:16 pm on February 23rd, 2008, J Chapman wrote:
I have just received an application form from ECDC for an annual parking season ticket…what passes for brains with these people? although I think from the comments of Cllr Petts the answer is very little.
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.
At 4:18 pm on February 23rd, 2008, P Coles wrote:
This is the only Town or City that I know gives shop workers parking permits and residents parking tickets! Most councils give residents parking permits. We pay our council taxes, give us (residents) and the workers a permit!!!
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.
At 6:29 pm on February 23rd, 2008, Tommy wrote:
It’s quite funny how if the council listened to the people we would find it very strange. What a place we live in!