In a move designed to “solve” at least ONE of Ruddington’s numerous parking issues, village residents on a quiet cul-de-sac off Easthorpe Street may finally see an end to motorists obstructing access to their properties.
Via East Midlands – which works on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council to deliver its highway services – has launched a public consultation* on proposals which would see all parking banned from Cumberland Close during the day. Currently only a short length on both sides from its junction with Easthorpe Street has double-yellows, meaning “No Waiting At Any Time”.
Under the proposals, a further thirty or so metres of Cumberland Close would have these double-yellow lines extended. The remainder would get single yellows – which would allow some parking there, but only from from 5pm until 9am, as shown below.
Senior Improvements Officer, Steph Walford, explains: “Nottinghamshire County Council have received complaints regarding intrusive parking from commuters, customers of local businesses including local public houses. Drivers are parking inconsiderately which is causing issues with obstruction and visibility and road safety in the area.”
This time last year RUDDINGTON.info reported on the plight of NHS nurse Georgia Pentz, who works within the Critical Care team at the QMC, and lives in a property without dedicated parking along Easthorpe Street. The nearest available parking space to her house is frequently along Cumberland Close. She was one of several drivers parked there who returned to their vehicles one morning to find their tyres had been stabbed.
The culprit was never caught, leaving Georgia with a £400 bill to replace the tyres. Sadly the unhappy story doesn’t end there. Just a couple of months’ ago her car was damaged again, seemingly by someone trying to squeeze along the road – resulting in a scrape down one side (photo below by Lee Merrin). Again no one admitted responsibility and, this time, Georgia reveals the bill was £450 to fix it “…which isn’t easy on a nurse’s wage”. Two other cars were damaged in a similar way at around the same time. Some Cumberland Close residents have now installed CCTV to try to catch future “incidents” on camera as video evidence for police.
Whilst all these problems would seem to reinforce Via East Midlands’ suggestion that parking restrictions are needed here, the current proposals are definitely not good news for nearby residents who have no off-street parking at their properties. “This is a devastating blow for me to read” says Georgia. “Parking in the village is so difficult as it is, and there aren’t always spaces. Now I don’t know what I will do. I love my little home, I worked so hard to buy it but honestly feel I have no choice but to sell up and move if I can’t park. Finishing a 12.5hr shift on ITU then coming home and not having anywhere to park will just be too much. I’m heartbroken.”
The local residents’ group had actually asked the County Council for a ‘permit parking’ system to enable them (and their visitors) to park there at all times. Therefore it’s likely even some householders on Cumberland Close won’t be very happy with Via’s current proposals – since they would enable anyone to park on the limited space that’s left at 5pm – before many locals have returned from work. Having only just seen these new proposals themselves, residents’ spokesperson Gary Choo told us: “I am in consultations with my neighbours as to our response”. {Once we receive this official response, we’ll do a further RUDDINGTON.info news update for you.}
Meantime, Mrs Walford continues: “Any observations on these proposals should reach me in writing, either by letter or email, by 7th September 2021. If your comments are in the form of an objection to the proposals, please clearly state this and the reasons for your objection.”
BY POST:
Improvements Manager,
Via East Midlands,
Major Projects and Improvements,
Bilsthorpe Business Park,
Eakring Road,
Bilsthorpe,
Nottinghamshire
NG22 8ST
BY EMAIL:
*All the relevant documentation is being made available from Tuesday 10th August 2021, and can be found >>HERE<<.
{Cumberland Close photos courtesy of Gary Choo & Lee Merrin}
