Parking scheme on show

Exhibitions begin this week to show residents and business people in Lewes proposals from the County Council s consultants for a proposed Controlled Parking Scheme for the town.

The first exhibition in this consultation process was held last night at the Eastgate Baptist Church Hall. It continues today (Friday) from l0am to 5pm and tomorrow (Saturday) from 1pm to 5pm.

Consultants who developed the draft proposals and County Council staff will be on hand to discuss the scheme.

Further exhibit-ions will be held at Southover Church of England Primary School, in Potters Lane, on Tuesday, October 23, from 2.30pm to 8pm, and on Wednesday, October 24, at Wallands Community Primary School, in Gundreda Road, from 2pm to 9pm.

The Town Hall in Lewes will also be a venue for the exhibitions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, October 25, 26 and 27, from 10am to 4pm on all days.

Parking has been identified by local people as one of the most pressing problems confronting Lewes. In a bid to try to rectify this problem a Controlled Parking Scheme could be introduced but would not be implemented until 2003.

This would mean that there would be a charge for all on-street parking in central Lewes. The town would be zoned and there would be two types of parking spaces marked out on local roads. The first would be identified for residents; the second would be dual bays, which can be used by any motorist wishing to park there.

If implemented, it is likely that the responsibility for enforcing the on-street parking would go to the County Council and not the police. Money from permit charges and fines would make it self-financing, a condition demanded by the Government Lead Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, Cllr Anthony Reid.

He said: We would urge everyone to visit the exhibitions to see for themselves how the scheme is planned. This is a very wide consultation and we want to hear from everyone who might be affected by these proposals.