CORBA hosts meeting of traders opposing high street car ban trial (From Gazette)

Maybe the council should ban shops in the High St. to ease congestion?

As this is a very serious issue, maybe we could have sensible comments and so avoid knowall supercilious stupid statements.

meadowlady wrote:
As this is a very serious issue, maybe we could have sensible comments and so avoid knowall supercilious stupid statements.

It is a bonkers issue. You either pedestrianise or you don't. Not some harebrained scheme where you still allow buses, motorbikes, bikes and taxis to still use the road.

We had some friends to visit Colchester recently and went into town. I answered their questions on firsts*ite, the new big bus stop, the old bus station, Tymperleys, crumbling Roman Walls, closed castle, the proposed car ban in the High Street and why the electronic bus signs never work as honestly as possible.

They found it most amusing. There may even be a market for a town tour based on Council incompetence.

Bert_Stimpson is your continual moaning about almost everything in Colchester a hobby? Does anything in life ever please you or are you just content with your present grumpy existence?

Checkout wrote:
Bert_Stimpson is your continual moaning about almost everything in Colchester a hobby? Does anything in life ever please you or are you just content with your present grumpy existence?

More a statement of facts than a hobby. I am far from grumpy and extremely happy. I just dislike public sector incompetence.

Unfortunately, Colchester's cup overflows with the aforementioned ailment. What's better? Draw attention to it or just accept it and shrug our shoulders?

Anyway, enough about me. How are you doing? Keeping well I hope?

Bert_Stimpson wrote:

Checkout wrote:
Bert_Stimpson is your continual moaning about almost everything in Colchester a hobby? Does anything in life ever please you or are you just content with your present grumpy existence?

More a statement of facts than a hobby. I am far from grumpy and extremely happy. I just dislike public sector incompetence.

Unfortunately, Colchester's cup overflows with the aforementioned ailment. What's better? Draw attention to it or just accept it and shrug our shoulders?

Anyway, enough about me. How are you doing? Keeping well I hope?

Well a lot of it is your opinion - bus station and firstsite.

Why bring up the castle - it's for major revamp and investment. Shame it has to be closed whilst this happens but it will be better.

Won't matter soon as once they have succeeded in killing off the High Street no-one will want to drive down it anyway....

Red Tape 2 wrote:
Won't matter soon as once they have succeeded in killing off the High Street no-one will want to drive down it anyway....

Thats what I was getting at but Lady Vinegar didn't get it.

On a serious, I trust to some members of the general public, a limited number of local businesses in addition to some in the High Street, the ban means the majority of wedding and funeral vehicles, because these vehicles are exempt from being licensed, will not be able to attend weddings at the Town Hall by the front entrance nor wakes at other establishments in the High Street other than access through the Dutch quarter which, for their type of vehicle, is totally impractical. It has taken three weeks but County Hall in Chelmsford has just confirmed this. Town Hall are in process of changing their website accordingly.

The consultation 6 mnths begins mid march.the barrackroom lawyers can't even wait till then.

Ok ban cars from the high street but then get rid of all the bus lanes to help the traffic flow.

As a former Colchester resident and still very regular visitor, I feel it is step in the wrong direction to pedestrianise your delightful High Street. It is a becoming a rare sight to see a bustling High Street and the main reason is down to pedestrianisation, If you take a look at places like Chelmsford etc. They have become totally soulless.

sossie wrote:
As a former Colchester resident and still very regular visitor, I feel it is step in the wrong direction to pedestrianise your delightful High Street. It is a becoming a rare sight to see a bustling High Street and the main reason is down to pedestrianisation, If you take a look at places like Chelmsford etc. They have become totally soulless.

Don't worry Sossie, it's not being pedestrianised. There will still be buses, taxis, motorbikes and bikes using the High Street. It's just a ban on cars, not pedestrianisation, which is something entirely different.

It's all part of the Council master plan, which I think is to cause chaos on surrounding roads and deter even more people from wanting to shop in Colchester town centre.

Cars only go down the High Street to drive out of the other end. There is no parking apart from blue badge holders (at the moment), no access to any of the main car parks and no-one who drives down the High Street stops and does any shopping unless they're parked illegally. So how will it 'kill off' the High Street which is on the fringe of the town centre anyway? There is no reason why traders can't arrange their deliveries within the hours allowed just like businesses do in every other pedestrianised or part-pedestrianised town centre in the country. It's about time Colchester joined the 21st century - it's been held back far too long by the moaning minnies.

Reginald47 wrote:
Cars only go down the High Street to drive out of the other end. There is no parking apart from blue badge holders (at the moment), no access to any of the main car parks and no-one who drives down the High Street stops and does any shopping unless they're parked illegally. So how will it 'kill off' the High Street which is on the fringe of the town centre anyway? There is no reason why traders can't arrange their deliveries within the hours allowed just like businesses do in every other pedestrianised or part-pedestrianised town centre in the country. It's about time Colchester joined the 21st century - it's been held back far too long by the moaning minnies.

I drive down the high street because i live there and have private parking behind it, The only way to get to that spot however is alas down the high street.

As for the statement of deliveries, Having any deliveries arranged before 11 costs an extortionate premium.

And from what I have heard the high street is going to be completely no loading at all times this includes mini cabs and deliveries (Cause that makes sense right?)

Wedding cars can no longer pull up outside the castle park for there photos , Wedding cars will no longer be able to pull up outside the town hall, And pretty much every restaurant and pub on the high street wont even be able to have there fresh produce delivered because they are all mainly afternoon deliveries fish for example is caught in the early hours and transported to places in the afternoon, But hey ho lets just start serving stuff that's no longer fresh.

Alas we shall wait for the glorious story that the gazette churn out for Thursday.

It's a fact, where there is congestion there are fewer accidents. Making it easier for taxis motorbikes &.busses to go faster is asking for trouble.

Bert_Stimpson wrote:

meadowlady wrote:
As this is a very serious issue, maybe we could have sensible comments and so avoid knowall supercilious stupid statements.

It is a bonkers issue. You either pedestrianise or you don't. Not some harebrained scheme where you still allow buses, motorbikes, bikes and taxis to still use the road.

We had some friends to visit Colchester recently and went into town. I answered their questions on firsts*ite, the new big bus stop, the old bus station, Tymperleys, crumbling Roman Walls, closed castle, the proposed car ban in the High Street and why the electronic bus signs never work as honestly as possible.

They found it most amusing. There may even be a market for a town tour based on Council incompetence.

You have friends? With your continuous bad-mouthing of most things to do with Colchester I am surprised. The castle is closed to make it a better attraction and asset to our town. Firstsite - to give it its correct name is actually a brilliant facility. I have proper friends who have been and loved it. My kids have been on school trips and love it. My in-laws who are retired love it. You're basically a Daily Mail-reading moron who should move away from Colchester so we get to hear from people who support the town not continuously slag it off. If you don't like Colchester then make room for someone who does.

whittle1 wrote:

Bert_Stimpson wrote:

meadowlady wrote:
As this is a very serious issue, maybe we could have sensible comments and so avoid knowall supercilious stupid statements.

It is a bonkers issue. You either pedestrianise or you don't. Not some harebrained scheme where you still allow buses, motorbikes, bikes and taxis to still use the road.

We had some friends to visit Colchester recently and went into town. I answered their questions on firsts*ite, the new big bus stop, the old bus station, Tymperleys, crumbling Roman Walls, closed castle, the proposed car ban in the High Street and why the electronic bus signs never work as honestly as possible.

They found it most amusing. There may even be a market for a town tour based on Council incompetence.

You have friends? With your continuous bad-mouthing of most things to do with Colchester I am surprised. The castle is closed to make it a better attraction and asset to our town. Firstsite - to give it its correct name is actually a brilliant facility. I have proper friends who have been and loved it. My kids have been on school trips and love it. My in-laws who are retired love it. You're basically a Daily Mail-reading moron who should move away from Colchester so we get to hear from people who support the town not continuously slag it off. If you don't like Colchester then make room for someone who does.

Gordon Bennett, another intolerant one like Sdapeze who demands that Bert should move away from Colchester to leave it free for all sheep to bleat from the same hymnsheet.
Bert is clearly someone who feels passionately about the VAF and many other aspects of Colchester life. Was he born here? I don't know, but I was, and I see a lot of sense in what he writes.
Whittle1, were you born a Colcestrian? Even if you were, what gives you the right to dictate who should live here and who shouldn't? Your only merit is that you hate the Daily Hate Mail, but you should take care not to adopt its soft-fascist attitudes.

The objective of the trial is to test the restrictions and monitor their effect. It's going to happen, so what is the point of opposing it? I honestly do not know whether it will benefit or harm my business, or those more directly affected, but I'm willing to see how it goes and to contribute to any unprejudiced review.

I think this is more the nail in the coffin for Colchester. I was brought up in Colchester and when old enough I moved to Newtown to live closer to the town and went into the town every weekend and throughout the week. I moved away over a year ago now and only come back to visit family and friends. I went into the town centre for the first time in nearly a year for some shopping and within ten minutes I had encountered some arrogant woman and some little twit who through a sweet at me (who didn't find it so funny when he was made to stand and apologise). I can safely say I won’t be visiting Colchester town again in a hurry. I would much rather take the 30minute journey to lakeside. It really does make me sad to think somewhere I used to love has (in my opinion) gone so downhill in such a short space of time. Was looking forward to taking my little one around the town I grew up in but now I will only ever go into the town if desperate!! And with regards to people not stopping on the high street, if I needed to run into a shop I would jump out the car on the high street to go grab what I needed whilst whoever was driving would do a 'lap' around the town and pick me up when coming back around.

whittle1 wrote:

Bert_Stimpson wrote:

meadowlady wrote:
As this is a very serious issue, maybe we could have sensible comments and so avoid knowall supercilious stupid statements.

It is a bonkers issue. You either pedestrianise or you don't. Not some harebrained scheme where you still allow buses, motorbikes, bikes and taxis to still use the road.

We had some friends to visit Colchester recently and went into town. I answered their questions on firsts*ite, the new big bus stop, the old bus station, Tymperleys, crumbling Roman Walls, closed castle, the proposed car ban in the High Street and why the electronic bus signs never work as honestly as possible.

They found it most amusing. There may even be a market for a town tour based on Council incompetence.

You have friends? With your continuous bad-mouthing of most things to do with Colchester I am surprised. The castle is closed to make it a better attraction and asset to our town. Firstsite - to give it its correct name is actually a brilliant facility. I have proper friends who have been and loved it. My kids have been on school trips and love it. My in-laws who are retired love it. You're basically a Daily Mail-reading moron who should move away from Colchester so we get to hear from people who support the town not continuously slag it off. If you don't like Colchester then make room for someone who does.

I am Colchester born and bred. I love this town and hate to see incompetent public sector bodies slowly ruining it.

I'm not going to rise to your personal attacks Whittle.

Maybe you have not lived here long enough to witness the decline of the town centre and the impact that poor Council decision making has had on this process.

There is a distinction that you may struggle to appreciate. I don't dislike Colchester, I dislike the people and organisations behind the poor planning decisions that are accelerating its decline.

Hope that's clear.

What Bert is saying, of course, is that it's HIS view that is the right one and no-one else counts so he's actually just as bad as the people he attacks for their views. The people he hates for 'poor decision making' have for the most part been elected and re-elected over and over again so Bert's is obviously a minority view and must be respected as such.

We are all entitled to an opinion and Bert is right in what he's saying (in my opinion of course!) And yes, Bert may be in a minority, as Reginald47 is, that's because 'the majority' didn't vote or care less what happens to Colchester. Apathy rules OK!

There are councillors who have tried to change things and they listen to what people are saying but they constantly get beaten down and are expected to toe their own party line, so the majority of councillors learn very quickly to keep their noses clean, say little and take the allowances due to them.

The simple fact is Colchester council have not listened to objectors to this scheme and no matter what it will happen, come hell or high water.

Its also clear very little is being said on this topic by the Conserative group on the council but its a sure fire thing if all goes belly up they will be out in force to bring down the current administration saying we told you so. Where are they now, in hiding?

Reginald47 wrote:
What Bert is saying, of course, is that it's HIS view that is the right one and no-one else counts so he's actually just as bad as the people he attacks for their views. The people he hates for 'poor decision making' have for the most part been elected and re-elected over and over again so Bert's is obviously a minority view and must be respected as such.

I'm saying no such thing. I'm simply expressing a viewpoint and explaining why I feel that way. Whether you or anyone else agrees or disagrees means nothing to me.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I will listen to them. The problem is, I've not heard anything that convinces me the proposed High Street changes makes sense.

The 'elected' officials (based on very low turnouts) have a track record of ignoring public consultations and going against public opinion.

Rather than resorting to an individual attack, why don't you see if you can bring something useful and relevant to this debate.

High Streets are dying all over the country and CBC want to reduce car access even more? part of me says this is madness but would it really make any difference if there was no access for cars along that road? Its not like there is alot of parking anyway.

I'm bi-sexual, so on one hand I say its a good idea on the other I think its a bad idea. I hope this helps?

It's probably the most sensible comment yet!

Well I had a green one of those but the wheel fell off.

A lot of the congestion in the High Street is caused by cars just driving through when there are alternative routes. Whilst on a bus I have followed a car from Maldon road, through the High Street and back down to the Mersea road . Why did they not use Southway ??.
Other point of congestion seems to be at East end of High street where the same Disabled persons cars seem to park at the narrowest point nearly every night at the same time. Maybe this needs looking into.

No need to ban shops in the High Street or the town centre, they are all going out of business slowly or quickly anyway, if they need customers to go near them, thanks to council policies.