Colchester north station commuters’ cars block weddings and funerals at St Michael's (From Gazette)
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Colchester north station commuters’ cars block weddings and funerals at St Michael's
10:50am Tuesday 19th April 2011 in Colchester By Andrea Collitt
Parking problem – the Rev Raymond Gibbs outside St Michael’s Church, with cars lined up down the road
COMMUTERS are forcing a church to send out its verger at the crack of dawn to stop them parking outside the gates when it has weddings and funerals booked.
The priest-in-charge at St Michael’s Church, in Mile End Road, Colchester, says the situation is getting worse, as more drivers park there to avoid station parking charges.
Commuters thought to be trying to avoid charges at Colchester North Station are leaving cars in Mile End Road and surrounding streets – even though it is a mile’s walk to the station.
The Rev Raymond Gibbs said: “My colleague, the verger Rupert Dix, gets up at six in the morning to put cones out.
“They are not enforceable – we just hope people are conscientious and don’t park there.
“They park from seven in the morning until about 9pm, so they are there all day and make sure no one else can come to the church.
“We are getting about eight or nine cars every morning now. I think the problem is parking costs.
“It has only really happened in the past six months and the situation has got worse. I don’t know why, but they have moved further and further up Mile End Road.”
Mile End borough councillor Martin Goss said several residents had approached him to complain about people parking in the area, to avoid paying the £6.60 daily peak charge to park at the station.
He said: “The ridiculously high prices for this car park mean a number of commuters are parking further and further away in local residential streets.
“The car park is never full because of the cost of parking, so, of course, local streets are full and brimming with commuters.
“Parking restrictions are in place for roads closer to the station, but local residents will be unhappy if we are forced to cover all of Mile End in yellow paint! It just isn’t feasible.”
A National Express East Anglia spokesman said: “Car park charges at Colchester North Station are comparable with similar local authority car parks in the area and all-day parking rates are cheaper in comparison with many car parks in the town centre, for example.
“For those travelling to the station by other means, National Express East Anglia has worked closely with both Colchester Council and Essex County Council in developing a Station Travel Plan for Colchester, helping to improve access to public transport through good interchange facilities and encouraging walking and cycling to the station.
“We will continue to work with our partners to provide the right mix of car parking, cycle facilities and good links with other forms of public transport.”
Comments(17)
jut1972
says...
1:18pm Tue 19 Apr 11
ShadowReturns
says...
1:39pm Tue 19 Apr 11
jut1972 wrote:How on earth is that trolling, the poster is quite correct they have no rights over the road exactly the same as the people that live near the hospital and will damage the cars on anyone that dare park near their houses. If the parking is causing disruption to funerals and weddings then the church should be making a case for double yellow lines not running to the local rag with a non-story.
Nice trolling. Go take your nasty knee jerk reactions elsewhere.
Libetia
says...
2:41pm Tue 19 Apr 11
Legend
says...
2:55pm Tue 19 Apr 11
love Dr
says...
3:27pm Tue 19 Apr 11
Legend wrote:Agree with you,,It looks like the Rev Gibbs could do with the Exercise by walking.
I am with Hunk Hogan, I live in the area and my friends have been asked not to park there when visiting me. They gave in and parked on my drive, however, I had to move my car to make way for them so parked dead in front of the church entrance. It is a public highway and anyone who pays road tax on their car has the right to park there.
6079 Smith W
says...
7:35pm Tue 19 Apr 11
If it really is a problem for weddings, funerals etc, as Shadow says they should go through the procedures to get yellow lines painted. As things stand the only ones possibly committing an offence (and a criminal one at that), is the church obstructing the highway with its cones.
jut1972
says...
10:17pm Tue 19 Apr 11
There are already notices there asking people to not park which are ignored hence the cones.
Still I'm alright Jack hey?
ShadowReturns
says...
7:08am Wed 20 Apr 11
jut1972 wrote:In your bid to take some kind of moral high ground you have completely missed the point. This isn't people parking their vehicles illegally and as a result causing problems for the church, the vehicles are parked legally and if it is causing an issue the church should be seeking double yellow lines or some other form of parking restriction to resolve the problem rather than coming out in the early hours to put cones out. There are churches across the country with far worse access and they still manage to reference to funerals in this story it's there simply to pull at heart strings.
So for 6.60 you would be happy to take that space and have a funeral car double park when trying to take a coffin out like some scene from a carry on film. Or sod walking the extra 50 foot by parking in link close.
There are already notices there asking people to not park which are ignored hence the cones.
Still I'm alright Jack hey?
Boris
says...
12:10pm Wed 20 Apr 11
6079 Smith W wrote:Nice idea and of course what the churches purvey is just mumbo-jumbo.
Wish I had one of those billboard vans so I could park it there advertising Richard Dawkins' latest book.
If it really is a problem for weddings, funerals etc, as Shadow says they should go through the procedures to get yellow lines painted. As things stand the only ones possibly committing an offence (and a criminal one at that), is the church obstructing the highway with its cones.
Still, if I was planning a wedding I'd book a church or a register office, rather than any of those fancy "wedding venues" such as Kersey Mill where the owners will demand a huge deposit and then may go out of business, thus robbing you of your money. (see E A D T story 16.04.11).
ShadowReturns
says...
1:15pm Wed 20 Apr 11
Boris wrote:Have you been on the booze Boris? So you are suggesting that these companies commit their venue, staff etc with no protection for themselves in the event that the wedding is called off. Anyone who is prepared to spend thousands on a wedding with out paying out £50-£60 for insurance is a fool.
6079 Smith W wrote:Nice idea and of course what the churches purvey is just mumbo-jumbo.
Wish I had one of those billboard vans so I could park it there advertising Richard Dawkins' latest book.
If it really is a problem for weddings, funerals etc, as Shadow says they should go through the procedures to get yellow lines painted. As things stand the only ones possibly committing an offence (and a criminal one at that), is the church obstructing the highway with its cones.
Still, if I was planning a wedding I'd book a church or a register office, rather than any of those fancy "wedding venues" such as Kersey Mill where the owners will demand a huge deposit and then may go out of business, thus robbing you of your money. (see E A D T story 16.04.11).
John Sabin
says...
5:08pm Wed 20 Apr 11
Easiest solution, introduce Residents Parking Only 12.30pm to 1.30pm that will instantly kill off all day parking. It works a treat in Lexden and its surrounds. The place looks like the Marie Celeste during the specified times.
romantic
says...
5:36pm Thu 21 Apr 11
6079 Smith W
says...
6:07pm Thu 21 Apr 11
swalkie
says...
7:58pm Thu 21 Apr 11
Boris
says...
10:44pm Thu 21 Apr 11
ShadowReturns wrote:No Shadow, I wasn't on the booze. I was just saying that I have my doubts about these fancy wedding venues. I can understand the point about the venue owners needing to protect themselves against sudden cancellations.
Boris wrote:Have you been on the booze Boris? So you are suggesting that these companies commit their venue, staff etc with no protection for themselves in the event that the wedding is called off. Anyone who is prepared to spend thousands on a wedding with out paying out £50-£60 for insurance is a fool.
6079 Smith W wrote:Nice idea and of course what the churches purvey is just mumbo-jumbo.
Wish I had one of those billboard vans so I could park it there advertising Richard Dawkins' latest book.
If it really is a problem for weddings, funerals etc, as Shadow says they should go through the procedures to get yellow lines painted. As things stand the only ones possibly committing an offence (and a criminal one at that), is the church obstructing the highway with its cones.
Still, if I was planning a wedding I'd book a church or a register office, rather than any of those fancy "wedding venues" such as Kersey Mill where the owners will demand a huge deposit and then may go out of business, thus robbing you of your money. (see E A D T story 16.04.11).
But if the couple pay for insurance against the venue going out of business, would the insurer still pay up if the venue's bankruptcy turned out to be fraudulent? I am not saying that that is necessarily the case with Kersey Mill, but the story looked suspicious to me.
My wife and I got married in a church, our daughter in a register office, so we never had that problem. I just feel sorry for the couples who lose out.
We have consumer legislation for just about everything else, to protect people from the consequences of their bad decisions, so maybe there is a case for it with wedding venues too.
Frating16
says...
9:52am Mon 25 Apr 11
Could always ask National Car Parks to try a trial run of cheaper parking at the station!
Hunk Hogan says...
1:12pm Tue 19 Apr 11