Fans face ban on ‘park and walking’
Saturday 23rd January 2010, 8:01AM GMT.
Supporters driving to Shrewsbury Town home games could be banned from parking on a busy road on match days as it is causing traffic chaos for other motorists.
Shropshire Council wants to ban parking along the the access road to Meole Brace Park & Ride. The authority said it was working on developing a proposal to install a no waiting at any time restriction there.
It is hoped the new restriction will deter people from parking in the road before games and then walking to the nearby Prostar Stadium.
Council spokeswoman Laura Owen said: “We are currently developing proposals to install a no waiting at any time restriction on the access road to Meole Brace Park & Ride.
“It is hoped that this restriction will discourage people from parking along the stretch of road, especially on match days.
“These proposals will be subject to consultation and, if supported, they will be introduced in the summer.”
Parking for Town home matches has been a controversial issue since the club moved to Oteley Road in 2007.
In December 2008 a restricted parking zone preventing fans from leaving cars outside residents’ homes during matches came into force.
Only residents and visitors with parking permits can park in roads on the Sutton Farm estate, near the Prostar Stadium, on match days.
Last year Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire Council member for Meole, called for extra parking to be made available around the ground to stop people parking in residential areas.
He said: “The general opinion of almost everyone I have spoken to, both residents and supporters, is that the available ground all around the stadium should be turned into enough car parking spaces to remove all of the parking difficulties that are presently experienced.”
Shrewsbury Town said the club was restricted to 670 spaces at the ground which means fans cannot park at the stadium.
Last year, a parking company was told to take down signs outside a Shrewsbury supermarket after it was claimed it was running an unauthorised parking operation on match days without the store’s permission.
By Andrew Morris
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From an occasional vistor to Shrewsbury from the USA:
The issue of parking on STFC match days is a result of the crazy concept of building a new stadium without parking facilities.
The sight of thousands of Shrewsbury fans tramping from town to the ground is ridiculous. The ground is surrounded by fields that should have been used to create proper parking facilities
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Well its only Shrewsbury that can build a stadium without parking…
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Right, let’s just pave over the fields to create parking space so that everyone can drive to the game! Walking is good, not ridiculous, and the US transportation model is not an enviable one.
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Just shows how daft and inept the council are in helping STFC on most issues not just parking, but how quick they are to jump on the success of the club when they do well and host big premier league clubs in cup competitions and the media circus of television and national press turn up in Town,disgrace.
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Ian
The amount of parking at or near the ground is governed by central government policies of one parking space per 15 seats at the ground. Had the club and local council not applied these rules to the New Meadow they wouldn’t have been allowed planning permission.
The rule are designed to stop traffic congestion around grounds and encourage people to use public transport. As a Town fan and someone who lives near the ground I actually think the set up we have for getting fans in and out of the ground is very good. There is very little congestion before a game and the area around the ground is pretty much clear 10 minutes after a game ends.
In the UK we actually think walking to the ground and getting a bit of exercise is a good idea, and helps walk off the beer and pies eaten at the game!
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surely the answer is to provide special p and r buses from meole p and r on match days, providing more income for the bus company. £2 return will cover evening work and extra buses for saturday afternoons
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There is already ‘special’ Park & Ride services provided for the Football which see some good use and from various locations around the town:
http://www.tanat.co.uk/shrewsburyfc.php
The Meole P&R site would be flooded with cars, blocking the area with queues with it been near the ground. This is the reason this site is not used.
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I understand the points raised by all, and of course walking is good, but providing adequate parking wouldn’t involve paving over much of the surrounding area and would deal with the congestion mentioned in the town. Revenue could then go to either STFC or the town, and not to the various used car dealers that seem to profit on match days by allowing parking on their lots.
I also agree the US model is not ideal!!
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I have used the service from Harlescott P&R which is generally good BUT on the last occasion the bus had been filled with some people who hadn’t travelled in on the service and there was no roon for myself and my son. I had to call for a taxi to get us home on a very cold, rainy day so yes I for one would like to be able to park my car somewhere near the venue.
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The stadium should never have been built there in the first place. The best site that was proposed at the time was in harlescott near the sports village – which has loads of spaces to use. The developers just wanted to open to building on some very valuable land in the Sutton area!
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I play football socially at the Prostar every week but haven’t seen a game at the new stadium yet so forgive me if this is a stupid question. There seems to be plenty of parking around the stadium. Are supporters not allowed to use it or is it too expensive?
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Mr Owen, your my local councillor and you sit on the travel group and were also part of the 106 agreement made between local residents the council and the club, you are well aware that STFC can not just turn the unused area surrounding the club into extra parking, it would contravene goverment rules and regulations.
Look to find a solution, create extra parking along the P&R at meole with designated parking bays by widening the road or more space at the P&R site itself and like someone else has said generate more income for the council coffers.
Fans groups are always working to find solutions for users of the ground, and in a few cases have solved a few problem areas.
Being creative and proactive brings more votes ;)
Of course if you can change the rules & regs that govern how many spaces the club are allowed we would all be delighted.
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“Look to find a solution, create extra parking along the P&R at meole with designated parking bays by widening the road or more space at the P&R site itself and like someone else has said generate more income for the council coffers” – and what will happen if a charge is placed on parking? The problem will just move somewhere else and pray tell, who is going to pay for the road widening etc? I’ll tell you,the taxpayers of the county,many of which have absolutely no interest in what happens to STFC.
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Ian- good point, let the club worry about the parking. I don’t want another penny of my council tax going towards bailing the club out of the mess it’s got itself into. I think it’s enough that the new traffic lights, speed restrictions and footpaths are of enough help to the otley rd white elephant!
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IAN: If a charge is reasonable then people will pay it, they park there because it’s within walking distance, mind you we are talking about 3 hours, on average once a fortnight, a hardcore standing on the side of the P&R road would do nicely :)
Mr Own is paid to come up with solutions, he is also part of the 106 travel plan.
Neither the Council or the Club can be blamed for Government rules regarding parking at the club, it’s a regulation that applies to all new complexes, football stadia or otherwise.
5000+ of us might be a small amount of the total population of this town, make that 17-23k when we go to places like wembley but we like others with different interests are entitled to be able to take part in our interests/hobbies just like everyone else.
Whinging and moaning is easy, finding solutions means a little more thought and work.
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I’m glad I stirred it up – it was only meant to be an innocent comment initially!
Thanks for all the additional comments!!
It just seemed to me, when I went to a couple of games a year or so ago, and saw thousands of fans marching to town after a game, that it must be like something that might have happened in the 1920′s!
I still think it was odd to build a nice new stadium without the sorts of convenient facilities that visitors would expect (and I think the stadium could be a venue for some good national or international events). I think someone above said the planners are short-sighted, and I’d agree. England still has plenty of green space – covering a field or two with a multi-story car park wouldn’t do any harm.
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