To whom it may concern, I am writing not just on behalf of myself, but as an owner of two small independent businesses located on Heaton Road. One is a gym; one is a café bistro.
We strongly oppose the introduction of parking permits. The proposed waiting and parking restrictions have the potential to severely impact our businesses, alongside the prosperity of a wonderful local high street that brings employment, services & revenue for Newcastle City Council.
Outlined below are our main concerns:
1. Data. Where is the council’s data to support these proposals? The horrific consequences for imposing permit parking to small local businesses on and off Heaton Road appear to be a drastic approach for “concerns have been raised by residents in the area around Warwick Street about commuter parking. There have been some instances of inconsiderate parking at junctions and in back lanes. It can be difficult for those returning to their homes to find a space to park on street near their properties due to the volume of commuter parking.”
Please can you provide the data to support the claim that the parking issues are coming from commuters? Additionally, please can you define your interpretation of a commuter? Is this someone walking to town for their place of work? Or is it someone commuting to a local business?
Additional questions that need evidence to support the proposed scheme:
How many complaints have Newcastle City Council received about the 'inconsiderate parking beside Warwick Street' and over what dates?
How much revenue has NCC estimated it could receive from residents in the proposed permit parking area? Will there be a price freeze for the permits or will it increase year on year? Where would this revenue be allocated?
Do you have robust evidence to confirm that there is such a problem? Have there been road traffic surveys (we are submitting an FOI request to seek this information) that have identified such issues? Do you have data of who, what and where commuters travelled to and from? And typically, how long are they parked, and during what hours? What data has led you to even consider this draconian proposal? Should town planners not be addressing these issues by looking to improve public transports links, park & ride, alternative car parks. City Stadium is unused and derelict, it would make for a wonderful car park.
Have you considered the impact of HMO’s and the newly built student accommodation surrounding the area? Are you working with the universities and housing associations to resolve some of these issues? Rather than penalising residents and business further afield from the area mentioned; “Warwick Street”.
Has your research scoped alternative areas where people could park safely and have access to a park & side system? We would like to refer you to the pandemic where an area near Chillingham Road Metro was promptly adapted to a testing center. This area is near bus & metro routes.
What other solutions have been attempted before this drastic proposal?
Was the bollard experiment "presumed consent" or voted for by residents & businesses?
2. Job losses / business closures / degeneration of a local high street / empty units. Heaton Road contributes economically, and most importantly, socially to the East of Newcastle. Your suffocating proposal contradicts your current and historic approach to your “Newcastle East – Inclusive, healthy, vibrant high streets”. You are proposing a very short sighted and draconian idea, that will only suffocate other areas of Heaton with “commuters”. Your proposal is the opposite of supporting local businesses and the local community.
We urge you to look at historic records of Heaton Road. The road, and its economic output, have grown exponentially, contributing to a wonderful community.
Your ill thought, and knee jerk proposal run the risk of destroying everything that makes Heaton beautiful, alongside essential services and social opportunity to the East of Newcastle.
Bistro – our bistro serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a capacity of 50 people and employs 15. We have a strong brand and are grateful to all our customers who travel from all over Newcastle to dine with us. The proposed permit only times will put an end to two out of our 3 servings. Customers will not be visiting through the day, as the unrealistic proposals do not allow them to dine & socialise with their friends. They will take their custom elsewhere, most likely to large businesses parks where there are national chain operators, and an abundance of free parking. This will ruin the bistro, and it will result in its closure, alongside mass redundancy.
Gym – our gym has been instrumental in supporting healthy lives within Newcastle for over 40 years. We have consistently over 300 separate visitors per day, and guess what, a lot by car. We have Mams coming from school runs, nurses from the RVI & Freeman hospitals finishing night shifts, students traveling from Jesmond etc. Our gym serves not just Heaton, but health seekers from all over Newcastle. Our dynamic and professional service doesn’t just support muscles, but communities. We provide a warm, safe space for people of all ages and genders. Our community stretches far and wide, and public transport links are inadequate to support not just our gym, but all the businesses within Heaton. How do you expect us to operate as we currently are, when our customers are unable to park their cars. You are creating a problem, not solving one. We will be left with no choice but to close the gym, make further redundancies, and lose our livelihoods. We also have a mortgage on the gym and bistro building, which we will be unable to pay. We will be forced to sell the property…but who to? Other than another property developer, who will buy a commercial property where customers can’t park through the day? This is the definition of insanity. You will lower property prices, reduce growth, and destroy communities.
3. Disproportionate costs of business permits. If your proposal were to be implemented, how can you justify a £5250 cost for 10 permits for the Bistro, and an additional £5250 for the gym? Oh, and you will want your business rates too. Please can you provide a breakdown of your pricing structure and associated costs, especially compared to a £25 resident permit. It is the equivalent of trebling our business rates, which we already struggle to pay given the current economic climate. This could be perceived as a windfall tax on small, local, independent businesses to support council finances.
4. Heaton Road employment, practicality & logistics. With the proposal only allowing for up to 10 permits per business, how do you envisage the sharing of permits amongst workers & customers? Please explain how you propose the bistro and gym implement the permit system. How would we ensure customers are receiving and returning permits? Managing this would incur additional and unnecessary costs to already stretched businesses. What happens if customers were given a parking ticket while walking to the building to collect a visitor permit? For example, both businesses are not like a local dentist, who may only have up to 5 customers at any one time.
At any one point, the bistro has 7 employees working, never mind the business owners (3 partners) plus customers; notwithstanding, the 300 plus visits the gym receives each day. These customers are the same people that then call into Sainsburys, use the local tattoo studio, the local barbers or hair salons. All of this disappears if your ridiculous scheme is implemented.
The only outcome of your idea is mass redundancy, and like Sheilds Road, empty shops and deterioration of the area; the complete opposite to your proposals to regenerate high streets in the East of Newcastle. Newcastle East - Inclusive, Healthy, Vibrant High Streets | Newcastle City Council. Have Your Say Today - - Newcastle High Streets
5. Green spaces & schools. Heaton has wonderful nurseries, schools, community centers and green spaces within the Ouseburn Ward. Implementing parking restrictions will only serve to diminish the timely accessibility for busy working parents, and residents. How do you propose those with mobility issues access their local green spaces and community areas? Additionally, how do you propose schoolteachers and parents of students drop off and collect their children? As I am sure you are aware, the school’s catchment areas expand far beyond what is conceivably walkable or on direct public transport routes. Your scheme will only make life harder for the hard-working parent.
6. Reputation. Heaton for over a decade has been known as the place to be. Cafes, restaurants, gyms, bars, barbers, beauty & hair salons, shops, funeral directors, churches, roofers, estate agents, butchers, bakers. These businesses symbolise the diversity and inclusivity of our community. Something we should all aspire to and be very proud. Your potential reckless proposal will only destroy something that makes not just Heaton, but NEWCASTLE a wonderful place to live and work.
It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it. Benjamin Franklin.
Sincerely,
Jack Stokle
Fitness Fraternity Gym
Liosi’s Heaton
Comments