A call has been made for the brakes to be put on a plan to introduce double yellow lines in the back streets area of Keswick to allow time for a parking permit scheme to be drawn up alongside it.
A meeting of Keswick Town Council heard claims that 170 parking places would be lost as a result of the proposals, put forward by Cumberland Council as part of a “pre-consultation”, to improve safety and visibility.
All the feedback will channel into a formal consultation, set to take place in May. Although the review is not just about the back streets – it also includes other parts of Keswick, St John’s and Portinscale – it is the back streets area where much of the interest has been focused.
Helvellyn Street resident Tim Herbert told the town council meeting that the proposed loss of car parking spaces was going to be “enormous and really problematic”.
He called for a residents’ parking permit scheme – which would also work for bed and breakfast accommodation – to be implemented alongside the traffic regulation order.
“We need to have a whole town plan,” he said. “It’s no good doing bits and pieces.
“The danger of this scheme is that it will be another ‘bit’ and it will just make things considerably worse. It has to be seen in the round for the whole town and until you do that there is not a solution.
“It has got to work for businesses and for residents.”
He added that putting in yellow lines where there are currently white lines across people’s drives was an “absolute nightmare” as the opportunity to stop for 10 minutes to take shopping out of a car will mean running the risk of getting a ticket. It is entirely the wrong thing to do, he said.
“We need to create a scheme which works for the whole area, which permits local usage,” said Mr Herbert. “I think it has to focus basically on providing parking for businesses and for those that are residents within those streets,”
He added that any other parking was a bonus which should be limited to one or two hours by a disc parking scheme.
Former fire service station officer Chris Burns, who has owned a bed and breakfast establishment in Church Street for 27 years, also spoke at the town council meeting.
He said it had been worked out that the proposals, as put forward by Cumberland Council, would lead to the possible loss of 170 parking spaces.
“The question is — where are these 170 vehicles going to go? It is a tourist town and people have to park,” said Mr Burns.
He said that many years ago, when he was on Keswick Town Council, the idea was raised that another storey could be put on the central car park.
“If that was done, it would be an investment and it would help Keswick,” said Mr Burns.
On the subject of the double yellow line proposals, Keswick’s Cumberland councillor Sally Lansbury said: “You should only be losing one car parking space on each corner — where there shouldn’t be parking anyway.”
She added that there were also car parks in Keswick which were not used, including the one behind the former swimming pool, plus two layers above the main layer in the Rawnsley Centre which were not in use.
“There are also permit systems which are not expensive, it is £30 a month to park in Cumberland’s car parks,” said Cllr Lansbury.
She added that Cumberland Council was also looking at different parking schemes, for example a two-hour disc zone, with residents’ exceptions.
“The traffic regulation orders are a standalone thing that we must get right as far as we can. They may need to sit on a shelf for a little while until the other things come along,” she said.
Town councillor Denstone Kemp tabled a motion requesting Cumberland Council not to proceed with the proposed traffic order until they have got a detailed scheme in place for a residents’ parking in the back streets, plus other areas of Keswick.
The motion, passed with seven votes in favour, stated: “Keswick Town Council request that Cumberland Council do not proceed with any traffic regulation order for the introduction of double yellow lines or no loading zones until there is a full scheme in place which takes account of all the parking issues in Keswick.”
On Tuesday, Cllr Lansbury told the Reminder that she had arranged a meeting with senior officers at Cumberland Council in order to mirror the request of Keswick Town Council to ensure that a whole town approach is taken.
“The safety and access issues are just one important part of a very complicated parking puzzle in Keswick. Permits, disc-parking, communication, speed and signage all need to work together in a carefully planned and scheduled way, in order that changes have a positive effect and don’t end up creating unintended negative outcomes,” said Cllr Lansbury
“We have excellent recent information from residents, a new car park user survey and the 2019 transport study has information which remains relevant – this all needs to be pulled together in a co-ordinated way.
“It may seem impossible to make any improvements, but we have to start somewhere or things can never get any better.”
