Thousands sign petition against Portchester parking charges
THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition against introducing parking charges in Portchester, fearing it could destroy the area.
Fareham Borough Council has carried out a consultation, asking residents and business owners on their views about charges.
Portchester is one of the place mentioned.
Business owners fear for the future of the village if it was to go ahead and more than 5,000 people have now signed a petition campaigning against it.
Kevin Butcher, partner at pet shop Petfayre, said: ‘If they put parking charges in, it will kill Portchester within a year. ‘Portchester is very friendly, everybody still knows it as the village.
‘There are a lot of elderly people here who can’t go far afield. If the shops close down here, they will suffer.’
Lydia Drake, owner of bakery La Boulangerie, said: ‘We all think it’s disgusting. Trade is rubbish anyway.
‘Portchester is dying now so if they put parking charges in, people just won’t come. We all feel the same.
‘There are a few petitions going round. We all want to keep it free.’
Posters have been put up in shop windows with the message ‘say no to parking charges’ and customers have been encouraged to add their names to the petition.
Stella Bell, of the campaign group the Friends of Portchester, said: ‘The general consensus is that it’s going to completely kill Portchester off.
‘If people don’t come, then some of the shops will close.
‘Everybody that you talk to thinks that it will kill it.
‘If the council has got any sense it won’t do it.
‘It will be a derelict area. It will get run down. It’s a lovely place to live, we love it.’
As previously reported in The News, a petition with 7,000 signatures against parking charges in Stubbington village centre has already been handed in to the council.
Sean Woodward, leader of the council, said: ‘It doesn’t say anywhere that we are proposing the charges. It’s just asking for people’s views.
‘We can’t keep doing the same thing forever and not re-consult.
‘If anyone thinks that the consultation means that it’s a proposal then they couldn’t be more wrong.’
Cllr Woodward also announced that parking charges in Fareham town centre will be frozen for the next year.
A decision will be made about the charges at a meeting at the civic offices on Monday, April 2.
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Comments
There are 33 comments to this article
Page 1 of 3
HilaryatLee
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 01:54 PM@32 Not sure that was called for
gcpfc
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 04:11 PMDear Yocal do you actually read any other comments before posting your own? if you think this is a good idea then what planet or medication are you on? do you also think out of town places all charge me to park? please get a grip or decrease the dosage
fletcher26
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 03:37 PMBy the way Yocal. ,in answer to your comment to gcpfc.DREAM ON !!!
fletcher26
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 03:15 PMWell if you will persist upon voting Tory down here in the south,then you must expect everything to revolve around money.As that is all they understand.They are not worried about elderly people who value the fact that they can walk up to their local shops and be welcomed with a friendly face and good service.I have always envied the local residents in Portchester and if I could afford it would have moved there for my retirement long ago.Still ,"every cloud has a silvering lining".Maybe I will be able to afford a property now when the lovely little village dies as it surely will.We have seen it all before all over the county.Lets hope the council comes to its senses before it is too late and the precinct is turned into blocks of flats.As gcpfc has said,I on principal would strongly resist ever paying parking charges on top of the price of my few bits of grocery shopping.
Stella Bell
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 02:45 PM@28......IS IN REPLY TO YOCAL @ 26
Stella Bell
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 02:41 PMI am sure you are correct about the consultation, if you ask FBC the right questions you may be surprised how few people took part. You could also ask how many came from Portchester residents. We have now collected over 5000 signatures ON THE PORTCHESTER RESIDENT CAMPAIGN 'SAY NO TO PARKING CHARGES IN PORTCHESTE'.
Yocal
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 08:37 PMgcpfc - "I tend to vote with my feet, as they say, and will not shop wherever I would be asked to pay for parking." ------ Wow, that must include all the big retail parks that take business away from places like Portchester! Maybe doing the opposite would benefit Portchester. Since if everyone did that, the small shops there would have more business and would probably be so well off that they could subsidised the car parking.
Yocal
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 08:31 PMStella why do you think I think you are lying?? 1. I stated that it is unlikely that 5000 people took part in the COUNCILS consultation process. A petition isn't a consultation. I doubt if anywhere in the UK did 5000 people take part in a consultation, even a central government one. 2. The problem isn't car parking charges, the problem you have is decades of gradual economic success of large retail corporations (aided by successive governments and councils) and policies to favour car ownership. With out those two things all high streets in the UK would be thriving. Trying to keep car parking charges down is basically a lost cause.
Stella Bell
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 06:20 PMtheaceman @ 24 I must admit I misunderstood your comment @20. I did not realize that you were actually talking about the by-election flyer for Portchester East on behalf of the Conservative party, Alison Walker being the candidate.You wrote " I have read the Tory circular this morning.... who the hell advised them to compare the new candidate to Winston Chruchill...!!!! Plus how can you represent the Fareham Tory Party and campaign against the proposed car parking charges when its your own Fareham colleagues proposing it."........... I apologize for my sarcasm @13........ What I should have written was "didn't her father tell his daughter about the FBC's consultation on car parking charges that closed on December 16th 2011" I now appreciate your comment @20
theaceman
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 05:20 PMDear Stella, I did not state you did support them. I dont really care. But you mentioned their leaflet and I just made a comment about it too. Ok? :)
gcpfc
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 05:07 PMI think those who organised the petition are to be congratulated. I tend to vote with my feet, as they say, and will not shop wherever I would be asked to pay for parking. It would be a great shame and very short sighted to impose parking charges in Portchester.
Stella Bell
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 01:39 PMI would add that I will vote for the party that is working for the people and will have this opportunity in the May elections (Portchester West.
Stella Bell
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 01:16 PM@ 20 theaceman WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU THINK I SUPPORT THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY.I DO NOT BELONG TO ANY POLITICAL PARTY. I campaign for the people of Portchester on issues that involve them and their lives as I have done for over 30 years, a very long time before the Friends of Portchester was formed. For example the residents had double yellow lines in Cornaway Lane (after many letters and deputations. It was the same when a garage owner wanted to put a block of 18 flats in Cornaway Lane. I am fighting 'for my own back yard' . People said The Friends of Portchester were wasting our time when raised a 3350 signature petition to stop the new Community Centre being built on the Portchester Precinct car park but we won that one didn't we? .
theaceman
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 12:37 PMStella, your points (valid that they are) get lost when you become sarcastic.. I have read the Tory circular this morning.... who the hell advised them to compare the new candidate to Winston Chruchill...!!!! Plus how can you represent the Fareham Tory Party and campaign against the proposed car parking charges when its your own Fareham colleagues proposing it....
sidious
Monday, February 13, 2012 at 11:07 AM"If you want the right answer, you have to ask the right question" definitely works both ways, Shaun :o)
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