Councillors listen to the public during the meeting at Uppermill Civic Hall.
More than 50 people attended a public meeting held at the Civic Hall on Tuesday night to discuss parking issues in Uppermill. Oldham Council Cabinet member Jean Stretton, along with parish councillors, heard complaints about the negative impact of the recent parking restrictions, as well as various suggestions about what might be done.
The frustration was particularly clear from residents of Court Street and Lee Street. They say their streets are effectively being used as car parks by motorists, including some people who drive in to work in Uppermill and now leave their vehicles on the street all day.
More than 50 members of the public attended.
Time limits of two and three hours were brought in by the borough council on most Uppermill car parks in February, in an attempt to prevent some drivers from hogging spaces for days at a time, and to increase the turnover of shoppers and tourists visiting the village.
But Gail Booth, of Lee Street, warned that a “siege mentality” was developing among residents.
She said: “I think the residents have paid the price for trying to do a good thing.”
She added: “I do believe the intentions were positive in introducing restricted parking, but I think restricted parking should be introduced on the streets rather than on the car parking spaces, to prevent people parking on a long-term basis outside residents’ properties.”
She asked councillors to look into ways of providing more parking spaces in and around the village, and backed a suggestion from another person at the meeting that some long-stay spaces could be reintroduced in the restricted car parks.
You can hear more of what she had to say by clicking on the box below:
Another Uppermill resident to address the meeting was Nick Watts, a local business owner who raised a petition of more than 750 signatures against the introduction of the restrictions. On Tuesday night, he said the time limits had helped lead to “disharmony” in the village.
In the short-term, Mr Watts proposed that some of the restrictions be lifted. But he also called for a longer-term look at ways in which the car parking capacity in Uppermill could be increased.
He said: “The problem quite simply is that there is insufficient parking places in Uppermill. No amount of restrictions is going to create more spaces, that’s the bottom line. A restriction doesn’t create an additional space, it just moves that car parking from one space to another.”
He added: “There’s an anger here, and that anger needs to be resolved.”
You can hear more from Mr Watts by clicking on the box below:
Several others expressed similar views. Roy Turner of Lee Street said he wasn’t convinced the restrictions had been having the desired effect: “Yesterday at 4pm the car park at the Hare and Hounds was completely empty, which endorses the view that fewer and fewer and people are coming.”
The most stark statement came from Ian Scholes, who owns Buckley’s bakery, and suggested the appearance of a busy Uppermill High Street could be deceptive: “It looks busy, but the money people are spending per customer is not what it used to be. I don’t want Uppermill to die like Lees is dying. If you look at Lees now, it’s like a shanty town.”
But two speakers were more positive. One woman said it was “wonderful” to be able to use the restricted car park near the doctor’s, while another said residents of other Saddleworth villages had benefitted because they now find it much easier to get parked in Uppermill.
Cllr Jean Stretton during the meeting.
After listening to all this, Cllr Stretton, who had cancelled another appointment to attend the meeting, stressed that the restrictions be reviewed in September, and that all comments made would be fed into that review.
She said: “I accept that some of you in this room think that isn’t soon enough, but that is the process that has already been agreed.”
In response to various comments from residents of Lee Street, Cllr Stretton said their request for a residents’ parking permit scheme would be included in the review.
She also said: “Some of the residents have suggested, quite unselfishly, that perhaps people could be allowed to park on their street in a restricted way during the day, but then the residents have priority at night time.”
She went on: “We will take that back and look at whether that is a possibility, whether that is something legislation allows you to do.”
Cllr Stretton also urged anyone interested in the issue to make sure their views are taken into account in the review. All comments and suggestions should be e-mailed to Oldham Council official Pauline Phillips at the following address: [email protected]
You can hear the rest of Cllr Stretton’s response by clicking below:
Other councillors also had their say during the meeting. Cllr Royce Franklin, who chairs the Saddleworth and Lees committee on traffic matters, commented: “The impact on Lee Street has been considerable, we have to acknowledge that. We are here to try to be on your side, believe you me.”
He also urged drivers to use the car park at the swimming pool, pointing out that it’s only a ten-minute walk from the village centre. He said: “I don’t understand why people can’t use the baths car park. There are 46 marked spaces at the baths, and I’ve never seen it full.”
Cllr Ken Hulme raised concerns over the impact of the Uppermill gas main roadworks.
Cllr Graham Sheldon made several suggestions, including cutting back some of the vegetation at the swimming pool car park, which he said may be putting people, especially single women, off using it.
He also said there had been some “dilly dallying” over the Civic Hall’s own car park, which remains closed for safety reasons even though the building work has finished. He said Cllr Rob Knotts, a retired engineer, would be carrying out a risk assessment this week to see if the car park might be reopened at least in part.
The meeting heard that the Parish Council is currently tendering for the job of resurfacing the car park following the damage, which was caused by scaffolding poles. Councillors have already voted to include the car park in the restrictions scheme once it is open again.
Cllr Sheldon’s fellow member for Uppermill, Cllr Lesley Schofield, said she favoured lifting the restrictions on at least one of the car parks, and said the Parish Council should write to businesses such as the bank and Co-op, urging them to encourage their staff to use the swimming pool car park.
Vice Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr Ken Hulme, called for the restrictions to be lifted during the nine months of gas main replacement works in Uppermill, which began this week.
He commented: “I’m really, really worried about the implication of all these road closures. Everything must be done to stop Uppermill businesses going to the wall, which I fear is a real possibility in the current circumstances.”
Closing the meeting, Parish Council Chairman Cllr Bill Cullen thanked the audience for a “fairly put range of views.” He added: “Your comments will be going back to the relevant authority, which is Oldham. I hope we can come back here after September with changes that will satisfy most of you.”
You can read past Saddleworth News articles about parking in Uppermill by clicking here.
Deeply disappointing for the council to openly blame residents of Leefields Close for the closure of the Civic Hall car park last night. The car park apparently remains closed due to health and safety reasons. It’s odd that this is a recent occurrence as the car park was used for works traffic during the week and open to the public every weekend until this month.
Like the residents of Lee Street, Leefields Close has been similarly affected by people parking all day and causing problems for some residents. The junction with Station Rd and Merlewood Ave has been almost impassable at times and lorries delivering to the Cricket Club have struggled. The Grass verge on this corner has been all but destroyed by the Civil Hall works traffic and other vehicles having to mount the kerbs in order to pass parked cars.
The council should consider opening the car park at the original entrance / exit as opposed to the one which they created on land they did not own and for which they had no planning permission. As one of the residents of Leefields Close stated at the meeting, there is no objection to the car park being used, it should simply revert to the correct entrance / exit. This is off Lee St and I would imagine it would at least lift some of the burden on the residents of Lee Street. If any car park is going to be made free from the restrictions, maybe the Civic Hall with it’s Lee Street entrance and exit would be the most appropriate one. That way there is a psychological element as people seem reluctant to use the Swimming pool carpark, which a lot seem to think is ever so far away. People would feel a closer proximity to the village centre in the Civic Hall car park and, as such, wouldn’t feel the need to park on Lee Street.
A very quick solution is clearly there but the council wish to pass the buck and have certainly “dilly dallied”. Why is the original entrance and exit to the car park not being used? This would ease some of the pressure on all the surrounding roads.
Uppermill isn’t anywhere near as busy as it once was. Ask most shop owners and they will confirm this. The prolonged gas works that have started, might be necessary to support the infrastructure of a village that keeps growing in numbers of residents, but they will further impact on the people coming to the area and on where they park.
I completely agree with Cllr Hulme that a temporary lifting of the restrictions should be brought in.
What a mess
Problem is in our lifetimes it’s only going to get worse. Only ideal solution I can think of is some form of underground car park and that’s not going to happen. Shame that the swimming baths car park is abit far away for just popping in to do some shopping.
From my selfish point of view though as someone living in Greenfield I used to hate coming into Uppermill, it was a nightmare parking and navigating Uppermill to find one. The last couple of months have been great, every time in the Museum car park or in the hare and house car park. I think it was people like me the car park changes were aimed at but I’ve no sight at what other chaos it caused.
I would stick my neck out and say the swimming baths carpark must be ideal if you work in the area, surely if it means more business comes into the area you can put up with a 5 - 10 min walk from the car park. Only solution to force this habit though would be residents only parking on the streets central to Uppermill.
Why not make the streets where residents are concerned “residents only” overnight, say between 7 or 8pm and 10 am. That way there would be space for shoppers during the day and for residents at night. I have no sympathy for those who work in the village - there is plenty of parking available at the swimming baths for those who work in the village and their jobs depend on people stopping to shop and not driving straight through to Tesco. With the present arrangements I find myself stopping to buy a few items far more often than I used to, and it’s certainly easier to visit the surgery now that it is usually possible to park in the car park next door.
‘I don’t understand why people can’t use the baths car park.’
Easy. Because they’re lazy. Many people who use the baths don’t use the baths car park, they ignore it and park on the pavement leading to the baths instead.
I fail to see what the issue is from the people of Lee Street. It’s a public road. Anyone who wants to park in front of your house can do so. It’s not far from Lee Street to the baths car park either, why not leave your car there? Answer - as before.
“Yesterday at 4pm the car park at the Hare and Hounds was completely empty, which endorses the view that fewer and fewer and people are coming.”
Total rubbish. The point is that if you wanted to come to shop or visit uppermill YOU CAN PARK NOW! Two commenters have said exactly that. Before, the Hare and hounds car park would be full from 9pm all day meaning visitors had nowhere to park.
The only people whinging are those who can’t be arsed to walk a little bit further than they used to.
I used to use the car parks all day while working in Uppermill… because I could. Now I can’t, so I park further away AND WALK to work.
LAZY LAZY people.
As for the moronic comment about Lees looking like a shanty town, perhaps this person should go and visit shanty towns before making such offensive comments.
People like to whinge about “small shops closing”. Well simple. SHOP IN THEM!. If there are no customers, it closes down. That’s the way business works.. Or perhaps they are suggesting we subsidise unsustainable businesses?
Perhaps the 2 hr limit should be extended to 3hrs? 2hrs to play in the park, shop and have a picnic can be a bit short.
Whilst some of the people commenting here and Cllr Franklin seem to share the same opinion that people don’t use the Swimming Pool Car park simply because they’re lazy - I’m not sure that’s quite right.
During the meeting there were a lot of good points made about lots of different issues, for your reference here are some of the reasons other than “being lazy” that people gave for not using the baths car park:
1) Access is dangerous - both for drivers and pedestrians, already the wall has been knocked down at the bottom of Smithy Lane and there are places where there is no footpath on the route to the car park
2) Some people work early/late, it’s not a nice place for young ladies or vulnerable people to walk up to in the dark - although this is not as much of a problem in summer, it will affect increasing numbers of people as winter nights draw in
3) It’s isolated - away from the village centre, people fear crime and damage to their vehicles
4) Some people have to do the longer walk several times a day - the likes of estate agents who never know if they need to go out and visit somebody or leave their car all day, which is an inconvenience and poor use of their business time - an extra 15 mins walking a day is over 5 hours (half a day) a month
So, whilst yes I agree that some people would prefer less of a walk, it’s a very broad and ignorant statement to assume this is the case for all.
Equally whilst I agree that Lee Street is a public road, I’m sure anyone would be angered if they found that once these restrictions had been implemented, every day you came home (perhaps some days with shopping) you now could not find a parking space anywhere close to your own home and were suddenly forced to walk further.
Don’t forget - these people living here now face this new problem every day of the year, a problem they didn’t have when they moved in.
The whole point of the meeting was to draw attention to these issues and local opinions that had been completely overlooked when the restrictions were implemented without proper public consultation.
Uppermill is a small village and big changes like this affect a lot of people, residents, businesses and visitors alike
Admittedly the restrictions are to the benefit of some but they’re also to the detriment of others and the Council has no idea how many there are of each - only that they’re getting increased revenue from more parking tickets.
There is absolutely no way the restrictions should have been implemented without a proper public consultation. I do hope both Saddleworth Parish and Oldham Borough Council take heed of the feedback they’re receiving and do something positive to help the community rather than weaken and divide us.
There are too many variables to safely assume that the changes to parking are either partially or solely responsible for customers spending less.
The issue is not local to Uppermill; nationally, a lot of small businesses tell a similar story. It may have more to do with the amount of money people wish to spend on luxury items.
A few weeks before the parking changes were introduced, I had to meet someone (briefly) in The Commercial. I thought the museum car park might at least have a few spaces, but it was still full at 6pm.
After a short drive around, I parked outside someone’s house on New Street. It was the last available space in the gap between the double-yellow lines.
I must admit I don’t know Uppermill’s side streets that well, but the hassle of trying to get a space was enough to put me off. I don’t spend much money in Uppermill and I’m rarely there for hours, but I would not consider coming again if I thought I’d struggle for short-stay parking. Whilst some businesses rely on nearby staff parking and free long-stay customer parking, many will also benefit from customers being able to pop-in, make a purchase and quickly leave.
The outcome is of little consequence to me, but I think it would be short-sighted to leave Uppermill without at least one central short-stay car park.
How can residents complain about people parking on the streets of Uppermill? If they want their own space, buy a house with a drive!? Too many people think they own the ‘public road’ just because it’s outside of their house. I often pop into Uppermill and have always found a space – whether it be in the museum car park or on a side street. No complaints.
Like most places in England, Uppermill has too many cars with too many journeys made by car (e.g. 20% of journeys less than 1 mile are made by car). Obviously the UK needs to change its transport culture with more walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. I’d like to hear what our local Council is planning to do.
But back to the immediate Uppermill parking problem. Here are some suggestions from someone without a vested interest.
1) Keep the current free, time limited car parks and monitor them so that the optimum length of free stay can be found.
2) Encourage use of the pool car park (which is only 5 minutes walk from the village centre) by giving village workers permits for designated bays.
3) Open the school car park in the holidays.
4) Introduce permits (1 per house) so that residents of streets near Uppermill centre can park between say 5pm and 9am. I’d recommend charging for this as they get use of a public highway and a scarce resource.
5) Encourage more cycling by having properly designed cycle stands in several car parks.
6) Set up a shared delivery service so that shoppers can have their purchases delivered which may reduce the need for them to drive (I believe a shop in Greenfield already does free deliveries).
7) Set up car share schemes (e.g. on Lee Street). This will save people money. Take a look at what they do in other places.