Graham reports back from Friends of Scholes Park meeting
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by Lib Dem team on 14 November, 2017
Cllr Iain Roberts has recorded a short video explaining why many traders are concerned at the gamble our Labour council are taking with Cheadle shops, by increasing short-stay parking charges when so many other local areas have free short-stay parking for shoppers.
14 Comments
As per my response so a similar blog topic last week on this site, key to this is a better public transport system for Cheadle Village? Why, when masses of the Cheadle public commented on the coal yard land owned by the BMI hospital, wasn’t this land (that has now been converted into a private car park) considered for a car share facility at weekends when the hospital is quieter, but Cheadle Village shopping area gets busier?! Why, because the council and our councillors have tunnel vision – FACT! Last year’s reduction in car parking charges in Cheadle Village (championed by the Libs Dems) has only moved the problem elsewhere, outside people’s homes and driveways – FACT! Cheadle has the WORST public transport service in the whole of Greater Manchester for a busy suburb of similar proportion – that’s a fact! No Tram stop (unlike all other other of the ten Greater Manchester councils) – FACT! No train station, unlike many other, and in fact smaller village-type centres (Bramhall, Cheadle Hulme, Davenport, Disley, Hazel Grove, Gatley, Heald, Great Moor, Green, Heatons, Marple, Romiley, Woodley) – FACT! Appalling road junctions such as the A34 interchange, Cheadle High Street/Manchester Road – FACT! A lack of a half decent bus service; buses that are continually late, overpacked and often don’t stop due to being crowded – FACT! Key bus routes that have being reduced or in many cases axed – FACT! No bus from the neighbouring Parrswood/Didsbury Village after 6.30pm – FACT (how are non-car owners supposed to get home from work?) No sign of a train/Tram stop in Cheadle for probably the next 20 years (as the Lib Dems put it [quote] ‘we’ve been ‘keeping it on the agenda’ for the past 20 years) – FACT! Will almost certainly never happen – FACT! Greater Manchester and indeed Stockport is growing at a remarkable pace which is a good thing, but Cheadle’s public transport and transport policy is NOT working – FACT! Pedestrian crossings that continue to be a hazard for people attempting to cross them, so instead of sorting the mess out, let’s build more crossings along Cheadle High Street – FACT! It’s amazing that all of these councillors (yes ALL of them), spend far too much time fighting, arguing and blaming each other for under-delivering and over-promising, year after year after year! Cheadle had a train station not that many years ago. The wise agreed to close it, sell of the land and waste the income. No wider thinking. Now council tax is on the rise again as our services fail – FACT! What happened to the Lib Dem plan of centralising all of the local authority outposts, such as the Ashlea house in Cheadle as part of the new multi-million £ development of the council offices! This site is one of 12 in Stockport should have been sold to either reduce any council tax rise and/or been ploughed back into a public transport system that works – FACT! Ashlea House alone in Cheadle has a market value close to £950,000. It’s a poor show but a good reflection that the areas councillors and council is not fit for purpose – FACT!
Kerry – the Lib dems will not reverse the charges if they regain control of the council even though they criticise the increase and the Labour council.
Bruce is just making this up, Kerry – none of the parties know what will be in our 2019 budgets. It’s the 2018 budget we’re focusing on.
Great speech Kerry I agree with everything you say. Just shows how big a disconnect there is between politicians and voters. And have you noticed how quiet it goes when you mention the words tram and Stockport? There’s a conspiracy around this and some say it will emerge why we never got the tram- as it is as you say, all we need to do is build a station platform and we’re there.
For the FOURTH time – if the Lib dems regain control of the council will you reverse the charges?
Hi Bruce – the charges haven’t been approved yet – there’s nothing to reverse. To go through they’ll need at least two of Tories, Lib Dems and Labour to support them so my focus is on doing the right thing for Cheadle.
I also have asked previously if the lib dems return to overall control – will you reverse the parking price hikes?
PLEASE progress the reopening of Cheadle railway station!
A tram line through Cheadle would be quite impractical for reasons stated several times before on this website but a platform against the existing rail line with an existing rail service – whose frequency is soon to be increased, is a ‘no brainer’!. Will someone please act!
The problem with a labour controlled council in particular (although not exclusively) is that they mostly (and it’s a fairly well know opinion) consider anyone with a business or a car to be a capitalist who has lots of money and therefore they should be taxed as much as possible – watch out for Corbyn and his comrades if they get in! Early in my career it was not uncommon to find small shopkeepers paying more in rates to Manchester City Council than they were in rent (to their capitalist landlords). Unfortunately too many councillors have little or no experience of business or the way to encourage businesses to flourish. Successful businesses will create jobs, increase spending and ultimately increase tax revenue on a local and national level. But the car park issue and public transport is something that really does need to looked into urgently.
I’ve coincidentally just looked through the Gatley Shop Local News. The editorial on the front is sad reading:
I hope that the car park fee does go up. As others have said extra 20p is quite trivial, but paying a bit more to park may make people value their experience in Cheadle a bit more, so having spent that additional money to park they may spend extra time browsing shops and having a cup of coffee. Any additional profit can go towards car park maintenance, public transport improvements etc. Rather than spending time and energy fighting this change just help to decide where the takings can be most profitably spent. Lib Dems also seem to be supporting creeping growth of yellow lines in Cheadle and Gatley which cuts down places where people can park in the villages. We’re adults who’ve passed our driving tests, surely we can cope with overtaking parked cars safely.
Hi Jen – I don’t agree with you that charging people more makes them more likely to come to Cheadle, when there’s free parking nearby. I think that charging people more to park makes them less likely to come. That’s what happened with long-stay parking: reducing the price meant more cars, increasing it cut the number of cars.
Our rule on yellow lines is it’s for safety. We don’t put them down to stop people having to pull out to overtake parked cars. Instead, they are for where people can’t safely pull out of driveways or side roads, or where people are breaking the highway code by parking on junctions.
I am with Iain on his November 19, 2017 5:27 pm that charging people (more) to park makes them less likely to come. Cheadle seems to not want people to visit by car, which is a pity. Fine if you live somewhere where there is a bus stop a short walk from home, and are fit and able. For me it’s a 25min walk to the nearest bus stop. And do i want to carry all my Cheadle purchases, most likely heavy items like fruit&veg and meats, back home after? No. So i drive to other places that welcome me and my car and have at least if not more interesting shops that serve my needs.
A great example of political hypocracy unfortunately, 2016 lid dem party proposed and enforced increase of I hour charge by 50 percent, 3 hour charge increased by 100 percent and 8 hour charge increase by 200 percent, how can a policy that was right for the Lib dems to enforce then and now try and score political points just a year later, a lot of good was done by the lib Dems in the past but I don’t believe this political scoring and u turn is at all credible, history speaks for itself in this instance