On 16 Feb 2014 at 3:31pm Good Idea wrote:
I see in the Express that Cllr Donna Edmunds is proposing we get rid of our crap parking scheme. Wouldn't disagree with that. Could she let us know more, and what we could have instead? The article was a bit thin and lacking in detail, as usual.
On 16 Feb 2014 at 4:21pm mr right wrote:
Why not go back to the good old day free parking ( ON STREET )
This would bring some live back into a dieing town .
On 16 Feb 2014 at 6:27pm The Old Mayor wrote:
Great idea Donna Kebab ! But there is an election looming, they ALL might be on this band wagon soon.
I was beginning to rethink Gay Marriages, but it's stopped raining today, what does Donna think about that then ?
On 16 Feb 2014 at 7:16pm I Love Donna wrote:
Well done Donna Edmunds, it sounds absolutely fantastic and I wish you well with it.
This will put a few on here in a spin, they would hate to have to agree with you.
On 16 Feb 2014 at 7:18pm Hey Mr Right Plonker wrote:
Free parking (ON STREET)? Great. Let's all park for free in town, then wander down the station for our train to work. 6am to 7pm, Sorted. Great move. (TWIT)
On 16 Feb 2014 at 7:23pm mr right wrote:
Hey Mr Right Plonker you nob head . free parking comes with a ltd of say 2 or 3 hours would bring money into this town prat face
On 16 Feb 2014 at 7:51pm Boris wrote:
Hey Mr Right Plonker, you clearly haven't read councillor Edmunds proposal provided for you in Post 2 of this thread.
If you had you might have stopped yourself from looking a Plonker.
On 16 Feb 2014 at 8:19pm That's Me in the Corner wrote:
Does she have to turn up at the meeting to propose her motion? Just asking.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 3:49am Andrew James wrote:
More UKIP PR employees posing as grateful citizens buffing up her low profile?
Has she responded to recent questions yet?
Regardless of what her shoddy and rambling little blog says, you trust her at your peril.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 9:40am Merlin Milner wrote:
I and others have tried to get rid of the scheme or at least make it better. Doubt she will be able to make much difference.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 10:31am Good idea wrote:
The parking scheme is awful, so I would like Cllr Edmunds to tell us more. The blog doesn't doesn't detail how this would work for residents in the town centre if everyone could park there for free but there were no residents spaces.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 10:47am Town Resident wrote:
while on this subject, I am wondering if Cllr Stockdale has found out about the secret 'priority permits' for Zone HS yet? Do they exist, how do we get one?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 11:48am OLD ALE wrote:
Nobody likes parking charges and I think most people would welcome the scheme being changed, eg some councils offer free parking on a Saturday. But would the town be able to cope with the extra traffic that would come from 24/7 free parking and how would the shortfall in income be met by the council? What would you cut to pay for it or what charges/taxes would you increase?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 12:05pm Local wrote:
She'll try anything for popularity. Unlike the rest of our local councillors Donna Edmunds is only a careerist and only interested in looking after number 1. Her heart is not in the right place at all, her thrust is to get ahead and then impose her dangerously juvenile ideas on the rest of us.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 12:51pm OLD ALE wrote:
Other issue that those wanting free parking 24/7 have to face is this: Outside of London traffic levels continue to rise every year. But in our crowded town centres, especially historic ones like Lewes, the number of parking spaces is not increasing and there is a finite amount of space possible for them; eg narrow streets with historic listed buildings on either side offer little option for extra bays that you may just be able to create in some towns and cities....
On 17 Feb 2014 at 1:55pm zone y wrote:
Merlin, do you know anything about these secret passes that are being given to residents in other zones, so that they can park in the town centre, even though they don't live in it?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 4:07pm John Stockdale wrote:
@Town Resident. Yes. Well deserved chase. The response I got back was: "I can confirm that no HS permits have been issued to residents who do not qualify." Click on the link below and then on the link to 'Lewes permit eligibility areas' to see how HS permits are linked to other areas.
I campaigned against the scheme when it was imposed ten years ago. Free parking just about worked then and would have been better if there had been more enforcement. But, I suspect increased traffic means it wouldn't be viable now. The on-street scheme is ludicrously complicated. A period of free parking and pay on exit would help a bit. I believe turnover on the High Street dropped by about 10% when the scheme came in. It would be good to see a little help being given to traders in these difficult times for retail.
Check it out here »
On 17 Feb 2014 at 4:18pm Town resident wrote:
Thank you Cllr Stockdale. How do residents who don't live in zone HS qualifying for an HS permit. I know someone who has one, and they definitely do not live in the HS zone, so how do they qualify? I would like one of these too because I live in the same zone as them! Isn't this discrimination? Could you ask again how someone who doesn't live in the HS zone qualifies therefore, for an HS permit, I looked at the forms and you have to be a resident, and of course that is the whole point of a scheme isn't it. Thanks!
On 17 Feb 2014 at 4:42pm John Stockdale wrote:
@Town resident, the statement I quoted was accompanied by the map. I think that's a pretty definite denial. Perhaps your friend has been the lucky beneficiary of a mistake. Do you still want me to follow this up? Will your friendship survive a confiscation if that's the result?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 4:44pm Ed Can Do wrote:
John, do you know what the couple of thousand pounds in the LDC budget for "Staff parking" goes on? Is it just for upkeep of car parks at LDC buildings or are they buying parking permits with it?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 4:46pm Parker wrote:
All the Councillors claim to have attempted to change, reduce and amend the draconian parking scheme, but yet none ever have. So what's the point of voting for them. powerless zombies incapable to effect the populace desires and needs.
The word from the Government is it's too much and harming the. High Streets. But they are STILL NOT LISTENING !
On 17 Feb 2014 at 4:52pm mr right wrote:
about 2 year ago i said lewes was slowly dying due to the parking scheme . high parking prices mean people just shop in other towns .
On 17 Feb 2014 at 5:14pm town resident wrote:
Cllr Stockdale. yes, I would appreciate your following it up. Is it possible to post the map for us? I don't think there is any mistake, I think the permit is legitimate because my mate was told they were eligible, just like the Council is saying. But I want to know how, because they don't live in the HS Zone and I want to know why I cannot have the same permit Thanks! (and by the way I don 't see Cllr Edmunds doing any of this)
On 17 Feb 2014 at 5:53pm Robert Chambers wrote:
This proposal is flawed, for numerous reasons. However, the two reasons I would like to point out is. Firstly how about people who are disabled? Do they still rightfully get priority parking? Secondly how could the LDC raise the revenue lost by not charging for parking?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 5:58pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
They may well be buying parking permits, Ed. Some workers, such as district nurses and carers, can be issued with special permits by their employers. Each permit allows the worker to park for a day in any spaces where residents are allowed to park. The health worker permits cost around 60p-90p for a day's use, so much cheaper than buying individual tickets for every visit.
There are quite a lot of LDC staff who have need to visit people in their homes, eg housing officers, building inspectors etc. It would work out cheaper for them to use a similar permit, if one is available, than reimburse staff for their parking costs.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 6:06pm Parker Knowles wrote:
How can you get a permit, without living in a Zone (or being a business /health worker etc), That would be ridiculous. I checked the website you HAVE to live in the Zone. You have to take a whole load of proof into the parking shop etc etc. Who is supposed to be getting these secret permits?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 9:06pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
They're not secret! Employers who have staff working in health or social care can buy them for use by their staff, and issue them as needed.
Only approved employers can get them.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 9:44pm Voter wrote:
Cllrs Stockdale and Milner talking guff. No one has the power to remove the ridiculous parking scheme in Lewes. The officers only have the power. Not even Norman Baker! Tail eagging the dog springs to mind.
On 17 Feb 2014 at 11:13pm Andrew James wrote:
And Edmunds?
Is she capitalising on an issue she has no power over either?
On 17 Feb 2014 at 11:39pm Dave wrote:
I really don't understand this.
If nobody wants this parking scheme why is it still operating?
Who is it benefitting?
In France people would just not pay the fines, why is there no protest here?
If you think the scheme is a good idea please tell me why. I can only see it as a council cash cow but surely they couldn't be that cynical could they?
On 18 Feb 2014 at 2:45am Town Resident wrote:
Annette you are right, but you are also wrong. You will be as surprised as I was to learn that there is some kind of secret privilege category that is available. It is some kind of HS permit that residents are getting even though they don't live in that Zone. The Council is handing them out to 'eligible' residents but I cannot find out how we can be eligible or even how many people have one. I hope Cllr Stockdale can, because that comment he has quoted is a very strange choice of words don't you think? As you can see I work late, and it would make my life a lot easier because the zone I am in is on the edge of HS, but I can't park in it. This special permit would sort that out.
On 18 Feb 2014 at 6:43am Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
Sorry, thought you meant the health worker permits!
I think there may be another secret privilege category too. I was waiting in West Street car park when 2 wardens turned up. Before they started checking tickets, one of them made a call on his mobile and asked "Are there any cars in here that I need to ignore?", which made me wonder how you could get this most useful status.
On 18 Feb 2014 at 8:09pm Oldbutintouch wrote:
With the exception of Cllrs. Stockdale & Milner, every Town, District & County councillor voted enthusiastically for the Lewes parking scheme - no other councillor can escape responsibility. What fascinates me, and a few others, is, what happened a couple of years ago to the running of the CPZ? We know that the two managers vanished (sacked?) and that ALL the aggressive wardens also dissapeared, but what went on in the corridors of power? Did ESCC belatedly realise that matters had got out of hand, and that NCP were running amok, so they initiated a night of the long knives before their parking pilot project was totally discredited? Matters have certainly improved, and the scheme is now run with a far softer touch, almost Leweisified! perhaps we should be told, Cllrs. Stockdale & Milner.
On 18 Feb 2014 at 10:05pm John Stockdale wrote:
@Town Resident, I have now followed up your enquiry and I'll let you know the result. @Voter, revising the parking scheme now is tricky. Off-street parking (largely LDC) and on-street parking (ESCC) are serviced by a joint agreement with NSL running for 5-7 years from August 2012. The new parking order that came in at the same time reduced the hours and allowed free parking on bank holidays. Is that the Lewesification Oldbutintouch is referring to? I wasn't a councillor when the scheme came in, so didn't have a vote. But I did vigorously oppose it.
On 19 Feb 2014 at 2:47pm eco worrier wrote:
I have heard that an 11 or 12mm socket is the best permit of all. If you remove the signs, you remove the ability of NCP/NSL LDC & ESCC to enforce the parking.
On 19 Feb 2014 at 3:34pm Oldbutintouch wrote:
No, John, but as it happened, the parking study, and the subsequent changes, occurred shortly after the mysterious black hole swallowed up all the NCP nasties. Something happened, but we don't know what it was, do we, Mr. Jones! (apologies to Dylan)