Graham, Tom and Ian

Your Lib Dem team for Cheadle West & Gatley Learn more

Improving parking in Cheadle village centre

by Lib Dem team on 9 December, 2014

Cheadle village has a lot of car parking spaces compared to most other similar centres, but it’s also successful as a shopping and employment centre. That leaves us with the problem that the parking sometimes runs out and people can struggle to find spaces in the main car parks. Traders and shoppers both complain that there isn’t enough parking and the Lib Dem team want to improve the situation.

It’s not easy though. There are three groups of people:

  • Residents who live near the village centre generally (and very reasonably) don’t want their streets parked up
  • Traders and shoppers who want cheap, convenient short-stay parking
  • Workers who want cheap, convenient long-stay parking

If you make it more difficult for workers to park in the car parks, they won’t vanish – they’ll move onto residential roads. That will please traders and shoppers but annoy residents. It may be possible to squeeze a few more spaces into the existing car parks, but not many (as cars are getting bigger – more 4x4s – if anything the current spaces can be too small).

A couple of years ago, after lobbying by local businesses through the Cheadle Village Partnership, the Council reduced the cost of all-day parking in the car parks. This meant that permits also became cheaper, as parking permits for the car parks are based on a discount of the full all-day price. One option is to reverse that change – it could be done, although we worry it would push a lot more cars onto residential roads.

The option we’re exploring is to provide more short-stay parking in the car parks. An easy way to do this would be to make one of the Massie Street car parks short-stay only (permit holders would still be able to park all day, others would not). It would displace some all-day parkers but the impact on residents and workers could be less than putting the all-day price back up.

People have also suggested alternatives like multi-storey car parks: not impossible, but certainly not quick and there’s no real prospect of that sort of solution at the moment, even if everyone wanted it.

Let us know your views.

 

   29 Comments

29 Responses

  1. Mark says:

    I can’t help thinking part of the solution is to charge a bit more for parking in the more congested centres such as Cheadle (including for on-street parking, if necessary). Generally when something is in short supply our society rations it by pricing; the alternative of rationing by queueing is seen as a discredited Soviet policy. I’ve never understood why parking is viewed as an exception, with people who advocate the free market in every other area of life loudly proclaiming their right to park cheaply (even if it means the car park is full and they can’t actually find a space….).

  2. David says:

    Build some car parking space on the vacant site opposite the Ashlea pub and next to Alexander hospital. Doing so could be part of a further plan to build a train station on this site too. Thus with more car parking space and better public transport, the car parking issue will be resolved to an extent.

    • Karen Sandler says:

      NO NO NO! The Alexandra Hospital has been trying to get a staff car park on this site for years and years. The parking at the Hospital is dire and people always park on the double yellow lines there. Please allow them to get this planning consent!

      • David says:

        Perhaps if the hospital work together with the council, then a large multi-storey car park could be built to serve the needs of the hospital, village and future train station? Then everyone wins 🙂

  3. Lee says:

    People coming to work on Cheadle leave their cars parked on our single track road, close to Cheadle Village all day.

    Every day they block the pavement from pedestrian access and sometimes the whole road and driveways.

    Making the parking more expensive would make this even worse!

  4. Karl Lomas says:

    What a lovely letter that basically says the solution is to increase parking charges therefore putting more money in the Councils pocket but doesn’t actually solve the problem.

    The problem here and with most things in this country at the moment is SUPPLY and DEMAND. As a nation we are growing / population is Growing – CHEADLE itself is growing, there are new houses being built everywhere meaning more people = more cars and these people want to come to Cheadle.

    Increasing the parking charges will not deter people from using the car parks but will increase the councils pockets. There is a DEMAND to use these car parks now and we have to SUPPLY it otherwise Cheadle as a village will never grow but the population of Cheadle is growing. It doesn’t really matter what you increase the charges to it doesn’t solve the actual problem of there isn’t enough car parking. These car parks haven’t changed in 20 years but the population and peoples habits have and there is not single element of how to GROW our little town in this letter.. All your suggesting is charging more to provide the same.

    You cant keep loading weight on the bridge before it collapses, Don’t blame the bridge – blame the people who didn’t make it stronger to cope with the added weight.

  5. LB says:

    YES TO THIS: (!!!)
    “The option we’re exploring is to provide more short-stay parking in the car parks. An easy way to do this would be to make one of the Massie Street car parks short-stay only. “

  6. Simon Greaves says:

    Here we go again, Councillors and the local authority with another tick box consultation to obtain community views only to completely ignore them (just look at the mess, inconvenience, noise and pollution caused by the Manchester Rd cycle path, Cheadle streetworks (still unfinished) and unfinished work to Cheadle Green. Until a train/tram station hits Cheadle village this problem will only get worse, and we should NOT penalise hard working people work work and shop, and live, in our local village centre with increased parking charges.

    Funny that this article is released today, when other councils are being shown up for making £ millions £ from parking charges, do they really expect people to walk to work? Cylce on dangerous routes, or take unreliable public transport?

    Even funnier that none of our Councillors actually live in Cheadle, how can that be right?

  7. Michael Sandler says:

    I think that David’s idea about parking opposite the Ashlea pub and next to the Alexandra Hospital – and a possible railway station for the future – is to be commended.

  8. bruce says:

    Train station? Surely this would make parking even worse. Few people live near that location so one can assume that they would want somewhere to park.

  9. jb says:

    With regard to the comment about cars getting bigger and citing 4x4s in our car parks, I would suggest that a limited number of slightly wider spaces for 4x4s be provided and any more excluded. These vehicles seem to be mostly unnecessary and can create problems for drivers of conventional cars accessing their vehicles.

    How is the proposal to re-open Cheadle (LNW) station progressing? The need for this is becoming more pressing.

  10. Karen Sandler says:

    The parking in Cheadle is simply dire. The solution is, as I have always said, to not charge more, but have 1/2 hour FREE parking and then charge more – a lot more for over an hour. This would encourage people to go in and out of the village more quickly. If you go in to buy a loaf of bread, or post a letter, you shouldn’t be paying for parking. The simple solution is to use the Co-op in Cheadle Hulme (which I do). You can always park there, but it takes away from the shops in Cheadle.

    • David Beech says:

      I agree with Karen keep the spaces flowing with short time cheap parking and expensive to park over 3 hours. Something has to be done NOW we are running out of time to survive the loss of customers.

  11. Jennifer says:

    I totally agree with Karen’s last remark, BUT the ‘residents only ‘ parking on the side roads off Wilmslow Road Cheadle are largely empty during day. We could have 1/2 hour parking there during the day which would help.

  12. Alan Gent says:

    Parking charges: no one can complain at 20p, yet Milton Crescent is jammed every day with people going to the Cheadle Beauty Salon, plus the owner of M Cool who parks his vehicles there all day. So no matter how reasonable you make charges, there are always people who abuse the system.
    Station parking? I agree, the metro at Parrswood is full every day, but that wouldn’t apply to people coming IN to Cheadle, only those commuting out.
    Park and Ride? Depends on demand. Could work as long as illegal parking is strictly enforced every day.

    • Ian says:

      As Far as I am aware it is not illegal to Park on Milton Crescent and I think it is wrong to pick out two businesses bringing services and employment into Cheadle when in fact they are doing nothing wrong.

  13. John Arnold says:

    just a thought could the council comp purchase barnes hospital as nobody has done anything with it for years turn the main building into one bed flats to provide for council residents hit by the bedroom tax in a nice landscaped surroundind and then provide chargable parking for probably in excess of 1000 cars which has great pedestrian access to the village accross a existing bridge simplessss !!!!

  14. Trevor Gaunt says:

    Better public transport would help. Where I live the are plenty of ‘buses, but they come within a ten minute window then there’s a twenty or fifty (depending on whether weekday or weekend and time of day) minute wait till the next set.

    The parking on residential streets is often thoughtless: cyclists are put at increased danger by parked vehicles in cycle lanes, pram pushers and their precious cargo are forced onto the highway by vehicles parked partly on the footway, driveway access can be unusable even if not fully blocked because the necessary turning manoeuvre has been rendered impossible and access for large vehicles such as the Council refuse trucks can also become impossible. I find it difficult to exit my own driveway at the best of times, but it has often been dangerous as a consequence of people parking either side thus obscuring approaching traffic and forcing me to edge out extremely slowly, hoping the main road traffic will see me and slow down.

    I never use the car parks to the north of Cheadle High Street as the space between ranks is insufficient for my fifteen feet long car. Finding myself blocked in once was one time too many!

    I’m afraid I don’t have a simple solution to the problem other than, as I wrote at the beginning, by improving public transport. Discouraging cyclists by allowing vehicles to park in cycle lanes cannot be sensible. What about providing secure parking for bicycles? Could more of our local shopkeepers be persuaded to offer inexpensive delivery of purchases and online shopping?

  15. Roy says:

    Congratulations Iain you and your colleagues have already turned Cheadle into on gigantic car park, with your cycle route that cyclists don’t use, with road works on Manchester road where a Stockport council sign read ” Road Works for 14 weeks starting 14/07/2014″ at this point traffic lights control traffic because half the road has been commandeered so that the council contractors can park their vehicles whilst working on the pavement, these lights have been in use 24 hours a day 7 days a week even thought work if you can call it only takes place in daylight hours. Cheadle village upgraded pavements still not finished and blocked gullies causing large pools of water line the new payments (Great for Pedestrians). So with a track record like this please leave Cheadle alone we are all right as we are that is unless you intend to put the same effort into Cheadle as you obviously do in your favoured Gatley If I didn’t know better I d have thought you lived there.
    As for business’s based in Cheadle using residential road for parking, I would like to point out that if a haulage company wanted to open a business in Cheadle it would be required by Law to have sufficient parking off road for the number on vehicles based at this site, m Cool appear to have off road parking encourage them to use it.

  16. Iain Roberts says:

    Thanks Roy – as you point out the roadworks are unfinished (the Manchester side is being completed – as you say, the Stockport side was done in the 14 weeks) and I struggle to understand why people expect cyclists to flood onto an unfinished cycle path – nor can I really comment on what specific contractors working for Manchester Council might be doing (though I appreciate you want to blame me for it – fair enough!).

    Not sure about your comment on parking – I’m not aware of a haulage company wanting to open in Cheadle.

  17. jennifer says:

    Although I think some of the remarks made are rather unkind towards Iain, who works really hard for us all, I do feel that some of Roy’s comments about Cheadle village & Manchester Road are really justified. Will the work ever be completed and, if so, when? What has happened on Manchester Road is a disgrace and a complete waste of money. It was only the road surface which needed attention ( which it hasn’t had).

    Anyway,I hope you have a Happy and peaceful Christmas, Iain,and keep up the great work you are doing.

  18. Iain Roberts says:

    Hi Jennifer,

    The question I ask about Manchester Road is “How do we stop Cheadle grinding to a complete halt over the next 10-15 years as ever more traffic tries to fit onto the same roads?”

    Resurfacing roads is important (and we’re investing £100 million to do it – more than anywhere else in the country as far as I know) but won’t fix that problem, and in a growing economy more people need to travel around.

    There’s no space to build more roads in Cheadle, so we need to get people out of cars and onto bikes and public transport. That’s what Manchester Road is about. Not a short-term fix that’s suddenly going to change everything before it’s completed but one piece of a longer term strategy to get a network of quiet cycling routes around Greater Manchester and get more people cycling.

    It isn’t quick or easy, but we know from other countries that it can and does work, and if anyone’s come up with a better idea about how to tackle the problem, they’ve not told me!

    Merry Christmas to you too!

  19. Dan de Kretser says:

    I have read all the comments so far about car parking in Cheadle with great interest.
    Car parking is a very emotive issue and the car parks in Cheadle Village are now full to capacity..
    The short term solution may be to make the Massie Street car park a short stay car park for shoppers and the rest of the Car Parks – long stay,for all those who work in Cheadle.
    At the same time there has to be an attempt to encourage people to use Public transport to travel to Cheadle.Would it be possible to survey commuters if they would use a bus to transport them to and from the train stations around Cheadlle and the Metrolink at East Didsbury
    during the rush hours?.
    A similar survey could be done for bus passengers and cyclists to
    make it more profitable for them to leave their cars at home.
    Park and ride schemes may be a longer term solution and any land that is suitable for this use should be given due consideration.
    Reducing the charges has not solved the problem.There are Motorists
    who still park their cars in residential streets and inconvenience other users and I predict this will increase if no solution is found.
    Allowing motorists to park their vehicles on main roads such as Wilmslow road is dangerous as they obstruct the view of other motorists who want to drive onto Wilmslow road.

    These are my views for what they are worth and I trust it will be of some use to the car paring decision makers

    who still park their cars on residential roads near Cheadle,at great inconvenience to other road users,and I predict if no solution is found car parking on residential roads will increase
    Allowing Motorists to park their cars on Main roads such as Wilmslow
    Road is dangerous as the view of other motorists is obstructed when they wish to drive onto Wilmslow Road.
    These are my Views for what they are worth and I trust they may be of
    some use to the car parking decision makers.

    who still park their cars on Residential roads near to the Village at great inconvenience to other uses.
    Allowing Motorists to park on Main roads such as Wilmslow road is quite dangerous as it obstructs the view of other Motorists who wish to enter Wilmslow Aroad.

  20. roy says:

    Hi Iain regarding the Manchester Road cycle path just when will it be finished , at the moment cyclists who are still using the road are placing themselves and other road using in danger because this path was construcfed by making tge road approximately 6ft narrower, will the council and supporters of this initiative take responsibility for any accident which may occur on this now narrow road.
    also when we see cyclists using the new route from Wilmslow road to Manchester road avoiding the High street????
    Also Iain it would nice to see cyclists show a little bit of respect to other road users by riding in single file at all times , stopping at red traffic lights and not ridding on the pavement.

    Regards to all

    • Iain Roberts says:

      Hi Roy,

      Hopefully the cycle path will be finished soon – the delay is down to the Highways Agency where it crosses the M60. There are plenty of roads of that width around – as ever both car drivers and cyclists should follow the rules of the road. Cyclists and drivers should follow the highway code. I don’t think that restricts cyclists to single file, but certainly cyclists should stop at red lights.

  21. jb says:

    Absolutely cyclists should ride in single file! Otherwise they present a hazard to every one – including themselves. They should also obey the traffic lights, not ride on the pavement or other places where cycling is forbidden and very importantly, display constant lights at the front and rear of their machine after lighting up time.

    If we are to invest in facilities for cyclists, in return I think we should expect that they behave responsibly or otherwise be fined for offences.

  22. Sam says:

    I think there should be parking for cyclists in Cheadle Village or around the area.

    • Iain Roberts says:

      Hi Sam, there’s a stand in front of the telephone exchange (round the corner from Sainsburys), one in front of Old Rectory Court (near the post office) and two on Mary Street. Because the pavements are quite narrow around Cheadle it’s proved difficult to find more places for cycle parking.

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