I don't live in Burnley (reasons witheld due to law enforcement :Mysteriou ) but when I did visit to go shopping I used to park my shaloppee cart in St. Peters car park which I note has recently been demolished?
Reason I used St. Peters multi-storey is because it that I was usually guarenteed a parking space.
For some reason, drivers visiting Burnley either didn't know of St. Peters car park or (as I believe) were too lazy to walk 60 metres to the shoping centre/mall and rather wait 15 minutes holding up other traffic so they could get a little closer to the mall.
Parkwise is a money spinning scam literrated by someone (for want of a better term) at HQ in Preston. I'm happy to see someone has actually stood up and created a scheme that watches these devious parkwise wardens.
Burnley Council didn't realise the problem of parking, when the centre (St. james st.) was pedestrianised. Reason being there were simply not as many vehicles parking (i.e. shoppers visited on public transport).
As the volume of traffic/shoppers increased due to more car owners, there was a dire need to host the shoppers vehicles whilst they shopped.
There was simply nowhere close enough to the centre then to park.
The layout of the centre was poorly designed and many Burnley folk were not given a chance to voice their opinion on HOW the centre should be organised and planned.
The cinema was closed down and the fountain was replaced with what I can see is an expensive 'smelly cafe' in a very enclosed area.
I'm amazed to this day how ignorent some drivers are regarding parking places, especially allocated bays for disabled or drivers with babies/children. Many time I have literally blown my top at people parking in disabled bays in supermarkets simply to use the ATM's. And it gets worse...
We must ask ourselves why a scheme such as Parkwise came about?
The revenue from the other such schemes paved the way, roadside speed cameras being one insult, fortunately, the AA and such at least made sure these cameras were painted yellow and made visible giving motorists a chance to slow down before being fined.
Let's take a look at Nelson, not exactly a thriving market town. The marketeers there have recently been told their leasholds are gone and they are to be relocated.
Parking has NEVER been a problem in Nelson with many car parks being free as long as a 'parking badge' was displayed in the car window.
In step Parkwise:
- FINED: in a FREE car park for forgetting to display a parking badge
- FINED: elderly disabled lady for displaying disabled badge wrong way round
- FINED: on a public highway for overstaying by 3 minutes
- FINED: for parking 3 inches outside parking line zone (even though no other vehicle was in front OR behind the vehicle)
- FINED: for parking the wrong way round on a one way street (even though the vehicle was only ready to reverse)
Nelson is already a Ghost town, Parkwise simply put the final nail in the coffin of trade. Burnley is heading the same way, the only people planting paid input are those who actually work in the town, i.e. service workers in Asda and such places... SUPERMARKET CITY!
ParkwiseR is welcome, and some Parkwise tickets are ILLEGAL.
But, from my experience of shopping in Burnley, what's needed is a council that can actually 'learn' from past experiences by building Upwards!
Burnley General hospital: Build up a multi-storey (SIMPLE). Don't try stealing the only green land around.
Get off yer bums car drivers, it's only a short walk to the centre.
Having said that, I note that even on the outskirts of burnley center it's difficult to park (poor planning).
I'm unsure why ParkwiseR is actually a busineses/company.
With a litttle hindsight, I'd suggest that any information that would combat the corrupt parkwise scheme would appear as freely available, such as on BurnleyWeb.com
But hey, if it combats county implemented corruption it gets my vote
How To Identify Where A Driver Is From- One hand on wheel, one hand on horn: Burnley
- One hand on wheel, one finger out window: Nelson
- Both hands on wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror: Blackburn
- One hand on wheel, one hand on newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator: Burnley (again)
