Car park issues for stadium
Saturday 3rd November 2007, 11:40AM GMT.
I have noticed over the years that Shrewsbury often descends into deep division over planning issues, whereas Telford just goes ahead and does it and has few problems.
The latest planning issue in Shrewsbury is the car parking for the new Shrewsbury Town football stadium. How did the planners come to allow one to be built without adequate car parking?
With the stadium on the outskirts of town, it should have been obvious that most would want to go there by car.
And the club officials are no better. They should have insisted on adequate parking.
Council tax payers have to pay for the road closure and the rest of us have to put up with the inconvenience.
Richard Camp, Wellington
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
Richard – National Planning guidlines dictate that parking at sports venues should be limited to 1 space for every 15 seats. Grounds that have more will not be granted planning permission. Both STFC and SABC were 100% correct in only having 650 spaces at the New Meadow. Consult the Planning Policy Guidance notes available at your local planning department if you would like more information.
I’m not sure if you have been to the New Meadow on match day, but if you have you will see the travel arrangements for the new ground are excellent – buses from the town centre and from across Shropshire run to the ground, greatly reducing the use of private cars travelling to Shrewsbury on match day, reducing the environmental impact of the site.
In my view this type of development in the future – we can no longer go on building massive car parks to cater for the car user. Lets follow STFC’s lead and put in long term, sustainable transport solutions which get people out of cars and onto public transport, bikes and walking routes.
Report abuse
Indeed as Meadow Matt explains, the governments guidelines are 1 space to every 15 seats.
Will the letters editor please state why letters from such ‘educated’ readers are printed making the newspaper look utterly stupid.
Or was this the case of putting in yet another anti-STFC letter to stir things up again.
Report abuse
I do wish people would check their facts before writing.
Report abuse
There is adequate parking , its just that fans aren’t allowed to park there ! Grrrrr !
Report abuse
Why hasn’t somebody thought to put railway passenger platforms outside the ground,and use a train shuttle service,that way home/away supporters could get onto the network and be delivered directly to the door,what’s more environmentally friendlier than that?
Seems to me that the planning depts/councillors are in need of some training(and that doesn’t include jollies to the seaside), I could foresee the problems, why couldn’t they? There are none so visually impaired as those that will not see.
Report abuse
Ozzie – They have looked into putting railway passenger platforms outside the stadium. This is old news.
Therefore I hope you retract your comment on assuming that the planning department needing training and be more positive in your approach, do some homework and next time write something more educated.
Report abuse
As has been mentioned, the club could build no more car park spaces for supporters, national planning guidelines for new sports grounds state a maximum of one space per 15 supporters.
It is not uncommon for other football grounds to be reliant on pedestrian access and public transport. Anfield as an example is three miles from Liverpool city centre, there is very little street parking and I dare say the ground itself has less parking spaces that Shrewsbury’s stadium.
It is simply not practical to build car parks for thousands of fans as it would cause gridlock as fans egress from the stadium.
As has been mentioned above, I believe that a railway halt near to the stadium would be the best long-term solution. As well as football supporters, the halt would be ideal for access to the south of the town or on non-matchdays. Perhaps questions need to be pointed towards the rail networks, asking why such a scheme is so prohibitively expensive?
Report abuse
Richard Camp said:
“I have noticed over the years that Shrewsbury often descends into deep division over planning issues, whereas Telford just goes ahead and does it and has few problems.”
Really – Telford has few problems? Perhaps because time and time again our council rides roughshod over the views of local people.
Report abuse
Mr Ashton, so why was the train platform idea poo-poo’d ? If it was on the grounds of cost I think we already may have some questions to be raised… I will pre-empt matters and bow to your higher educational standards!
Perhaps if nothing else this shows the advantages of a unitary authority where all decisions be they right or wrong are at one door rather than many.
Report abuse
Building a railway stop at the ground is a nice idea, but not that workable due to the way the railways are set up in the UK.
External finaces would be needed to build the stop, and then new services would have to be commisioned by rail companies to run services between the town station and the ground. The cost of this would work out much more per passenger than the use of buses from the town centre.
Getting the existing Cardiff to Manchester train (which passes the ground) to stop at the ground on match days would be very difficult.
Report abuse
An interesting discussion.
I have only been out to the ground twice, but I cycled with my kids and it was quite easy and safe most of the way (there is a good cycle path for some of the way from Coleham), though we had to walk when we got closer to the ground.
They may have to put more bike racks in at the stadium. The first time it was easy to find somewhere to park the bikes but the second time (Man City match) it seemed that there were more cyclists.
I’m not sure what the situation is like now.
Report abuse
I think some more bike racks have been put in at the ground since the Man City game, alongside the railwayline stand. The were 200 stands in the original designs.
Cycling to the ground from the Hereford Road should also be easier now that the cycleway improvements have been made.
Report abuse
Good.
Thanks for the info, meadow matt.
Report abuse
make them all use public transport or they cant go to the match .As for this chap mathew ashton he realy knows a lot on the whole stfc / planning etc , a real footie supporter .
i wonder if he knows about anything else ? a little bit more important.
Report abuse