Defence workers are invading our streets for parking

“And what statement do we have from South Gloucestershire's Labour councillor for Filton, who is spokesperson for transport and planning, Roger Hutchinson? Zilch. Why do Labour persist in having these spokes if they do nothing to act on these type of problems?
No response from them they stay mute. He's happy to stand idly by and let an unpaid councillor try and deal with a problem so much bigger.”

“this is propoganda to get RPZ'S introduced - nothing less.

agree with The LastFred - there are plenty of people who park their cars in ''residential'' areas to get to work. i've done it. most people have done it.

those who want RPZ'S will find (a) that they'll have LESS parking in their streets once councils put in double and single yellow lines. (b) they'll find the same thing happenign where they park THEIR cars away from their homes. EVERYONE LOSES and the councils - and the contractors - rake in the cash.

think long and hard about this - you'll end with the worse of all worlds.”

“Another reason why the proposed M32 park and ride for the BRT is in the wrong place. If it was located between the M4 and ring road, it could serve UWE, Abbey Wood and the new science park as well as the center.”

“@ talbot hill.

I cycle to work most of the week but also drive as I live close enough to make this an option. Most of my colleagues commute to Bristol from Wales, Gloucester, chippenham and somerset. They will not be able to cycle. Before you say, take your bike on a train the London Paddington train can take 6 bikes, most smaller trains can take 2.

Get in the real world?”

“It would seem some streets in Filton have been selected by councillors for restricted parking see this story:
http://tinyurl.com/7uuau3x
Selecting some streets will not resolve these problems as it will force employees to park in wider areas pushing the problem elsewhere.
What is needed is a proper Filton planning and transport strategy and we dont have one. What is being done? We have three South Gloucestershire Labour councillors failing to address the problem and do any forward thinking.
The MOD parking issue is not being addressed by S.Glos conucillors for Filton who attend planning committee meetings. They allow a Filton town councillor to attempt to resolve the massive problem. We need a strategy and its needs attention, its time for Labour in Filton, to earn those councillor allowances they are paid every year to address Filton issues, not ignore them.”

“my car is taxed,insured and fully legal.if i want to park it there i will do !!!!!!!!!”

“@snowymalone

You are spot on about Hengrove park, they had enough room to build the correct amount of parking required for the development.
It must have been the useless BCC that decided that if you are ill and have to attend the place then you will have to pay either by bus or car park charges.
Its a bit odd that the drop in centre that is being replaced by Hengrove had plenty of sensible free parking, but now you will have to pay to visit.
They had a large working area for the builders at Hengrove and they just spent the last three weeks covering the area, it appears that if you are building the place parking is free but not if you are ill.
Surely the last thing you want to do if you are ill is frig about with buses, you want the least hassle available to sort out your problem.
Of course at the next door Hengrove Leasure Park parking is free, so if you are visiting the place you know where to park.
So they have destroyed two available car parks at Hengrove one at the Hospital and one at the
leasure bit just to make sure you pay to visit.
There are no access problems or congestion problems at Hengrove, there are no space problems at Hengrove the are just the usual BCC idiot problems, all they can produce are cockups to try and force the use of their beloved buses, and after 10 am all the Hengrove buses appear to be empty, maybe its the councils aim to keep people away from the place.”

“@ Gazzabristol

"When it comes to driving to work in general the Councils attitude seems to be that by restricting parking or deliberately sabotaging the road network people will somehow magic themselves to work."

Spot on. I work in Hengrove Park where there's the same problem - a college, a hospital and a leisure centre and about twelve staff car-parking places each. All three were given strict guidelines on the number of parking spaces they could provide. Yes, there's buses, but they depend largely on where you're coming from, and on Bank Holidays several run sporadically or not at all - and if you live outside Bristol, and quite a lot of employees that side of the city live in North Dibley or BANES, then getting a bus anytime outside of peak can be a joke.

So what do you do? Pay through the nose to get two or three buses each way in the knowledge you'll be bullocked for being late at least twice a week, or drive and park in a side-street? I'm lucky enough to live close enough to cycle or walk, but many aren't.

In the centre you kind of expect this - you know parking will probably be an issue unless you're lucky enough to have a dedicated spot. But when a new establishment is built on extensive, empty land, surely realistic parking needs should be factored in? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for greener ways of getting to work, but the alternatives have to be realistic, reliable and affordable, and there needs to be official recognition that a significant number of staff will always, for whatever reason, actually /need/ to drive.”

“@dcbbramwell 7.22pm and @Bristolexpat 08:54

I think you will find that the Council did put stringent conditions on parking - the Council were actually the ones that arbitrarily pulled a figure out of their backsides as to how many parking spaces were and are allowed by certain local employers.

I suspect that the MOD could easily have built more spaces but I believe they are not permitted by the Council. Can someone confirm that?

When it comes to driving to work in general the Councils attitude seems to be that by restricting parking or deliberately sabotaging the road network people will somehow magic themselves to work.

They ignore the fact that many workers are priced out of the city from a housing perspective so cannot realistically cycle to work from 15 to 20 miles away and do not have adequate public transport options from where they live - often in areas that are affordable specifically because the links are poor.

Also with most large employers adopting flexible working patterns (the road and public transports network would utterly collapse without it) there is limited scope for car sharing.

The trains by the way are all overcrowded and completely unreliable so I'd love to know how new workers coming to the area are supposed to use them.

Sounds like increased misery for all commuters and not just those from the MOD. All in the name of some pointless moral crusade by the Council.”

“@EricClark1

"Too many cars. Simple fact of life... Until there is better public transport, people just aren't going to give up their cars too easily."

Good point, but it has to be trams or trains. All the evidence shows that people will NOT give up their cars for buses, however bendy they might be.”