Ewood Park match day parking plea rejected (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Ewood Park match day parking plea rejected

7:00am Wednesday 24th October 2012 in News

A PLEA by residents of streets near Ewood Park to end a match day parking scheme they claim is costly and ineffective has been rejected by councillors.

A total of 36 householders near the Blackburn Rovers ground signed a petition asking the 13-year-old system of issuing permits for leaving cars on-street for fixtures be terminated.

They claim the system is ignored by fans who ‘continue to park inconsiderately and cause obstruction’.

He said that when the scheme was introducing in 1999 residents were told the £10 charge would be a one-off and not an annual fee.

Other concerns regarded the ‘lack of enforcement after 3.30pm when it is most needed’.

Council officials told Blackburn with Darwen Council’s planning and highways committee that 20 of the petitioners had bought permits for the 2012-13 season and another nine had not renewed permits bought in 2011-12. They said revoking the scheme would require consulting all residents in the area and would cost the borough £1,200.

Their report said: “The problems at Wolseley Street are common in the vicinity of Ewood Park, and although gates and associated parking demand may have reduced, they can be expected to return to recent higher levels when and if promotion back to the Premier League is achieved.

“From the start of the current football season Civil Enforcement Officers have been in attendance in the area at each home games, generally within 15 minutes of the ‘kick-off’.”

The officers’ report also says the £10 charge was fixed as an annual fee in 1999 and that there are no plans to increase it ‘in the forseeable future’.

They recommended that, in view of the cost and the need to consult all residents, the petitioners’ request should be refused. The councillors accepted the recommendation.

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