Wells City Councillors call for immediate action on car park regulations

Just in time for the summer tourist in-flux, Mendip District Council imposed new parking regulations in the Union Street and Princes Road's Car Parks in Wells. 

These new regulations heavily restricted the use of the car parks to a maximum stay of 3 hours to the dismay of the majority of visitors and residents. Former Mayor Simon Davies observed: “This defies not only economic sense but is against all retail principle for a market town.”

Residents, businesses and this facebook group have been calling for Mendip District Council to immediately revert back to the previous charging regime before any more damage to one of Wells’ largest income stream occurs.

Local tax-payers might also a little miffed to know that we funded a £53,000 survey by the Roads & Traffic Authority to assess what could be perceived as rather vague trends across the whole of the Mendip area, not just Wells, during the late autumn (when the level of tourism drops significantly from the summer peak) to calculate car park usage.

At a meeting last week Wells City Councillors protested to the District Councillors asking for the new regulations to be abandoned and replaced by the previous system.

Christina Borastero, had previously pointed-out that the government has suspended HIPs while the law is changed yet, Mendip District Council “cannot or will not” suspend the new parking regulations while they change the law/regulations governing the car parks? 

Councillor Danny Unwin said that the regulations could only be changed following the council publishing a legal notice and completeing a consultation. A process that wouldn’t begin until the end of July at the earliest & unlikely to be completed until the end of August.

Borastero retorted that "By that time, the that time the word will have got out that you can't stop in Wells and visitors will be going to Glastonbury, Cheddar and Weston-super-Mare instead."

MP Tessa Munt has spoken-out against the regulations stating: "I'm appalled that the city has been disrupted like this. We have so much to offer here, like our stunning cathedral, Vicars Close and our unique High Street."

Local resident Nigel Bell, also made this heartfelt plea on behalf of residents living in central Wells: “ We have to compete with commuting office & shop workers for the extremely limited parking available without yellow lines in Southover and Silver Street. The new 3 hour limit has forced those commuters prepared to pay for the privilege of parking all day in the city out of the car parks and on to the streets. the situation is now even more intolerable.”

Wendy Eileen Attridge summed-up the general feeling from the group, saying: "It beggars belief - tourism is the main source of income for Wells, so what do they do? Make it more difficult for visitors to park long enough to see the sights and spend the money! Why not just put a sign up saying 'Visitors Not Welcome'"?

Have your say below, do you have a business which could do without this extra blow in today's financial climate or are you a local resident who relies on-street parking?