Uckfield parking: what do you think?

Here are some issues for townspeople and the local authorities to consider, writes Paul Watson.

1. Is the mix between short and long-term spaces on the Luxford Field car park correct?

2. If the car park on the derelict land at the old station yard eventually becomes a car park, who will own it, who will manage it? Will it be a pay car park?

3. If this is a pay car park, how can drivers be persuaded to use it, if long-term parking is free in the rest of the town; both on and off-street?

4. Is it right that commuters from Uckfield can park free when their counterparts across East Sussex, and in West Sussex too, are forced to pay?

5. Wealden District Council manages its car parks under a set of rules drawn up in the Wealden District Council Off Street Parking Order 1990. It contains regulations designed to ensure the car parks are managed in the most effective manner to protect the needs of both shoppers (short-term parking close to the shops) and workers (longer-term parking). Are those objectives being met?

6. The other key thing to remember is that the enforcement of parking regulations costs money. Without parking charges, income is limited (from “fines”). At the moment it costs Wealden District Council to enforce parking regulations across the district and, at a time of financial austerity, it is understandable that the council looks at every pound spent. In Uckfield, we rely on Sussex Police to enforce on-street parking regulations. The police do not employ traffic wardens. I think we can say with certainty that Uckfield does not want a draconian parking regime. We only have to look ten miles south to Lewes to see what happens when such a scheme is implemented.

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