Objection to proposed parking restrictions on Garden Street which will have an negative impact on the users of Croft House.

In our opinion there is no justification for this change, given the proposals for the other side of Garden Street. The opening of Sharman Court student accommodation block did nothing to increase the amount of traffic on this street. The closure of Sytner’s BMW dealership on Hollis Croft and Garden Street has, in fact, greatly reduced the amount of traffic flowing along Garden Street. We do not believe that the opening of the Hollis Croft student accommodation will significantly affect the amount of traffic on Garden Street.

Croft House Centre, a registered charity, provides accommodation, facilities and services for a large number of local voluntary and community groups to undertake their various activities. These currently include dance classes, music groups, martial arts, a day care centre for adults with learning difficulties and a percussion performance group for young adults with learning difficulties. Approximately 350 people per week attend some kind of activity at Croft House. The vast majority of our user groups attend in the evenings from 6.30 to 10.30 pm and rely on being able to park along both sides of Garden Street. We also have groups who attend on Sundays for whom the “No Waiting At Any Time” restriction would be most inconvenient.

As we understand it the main entrance to the new Hollis Croft student accommodation will be on Hollis Croft with access only from Garden Street via a walkway. As with Sharman Court we would expect the vast majority of users of the accommodation would arrive on foot. We can see no justification for this extra restriction and believe that the current limit of Mon – Sat 8am – 6.30pm will continue to be satisfactory.

The current restrictions appear to work well for the commercial businesses along Garden Street. These businesses are closed on Sundays and in the evenings and would not benefit from any additional restrictions.