“PLANT – And Reap What Ye Sow!”

Dear Mr Editor,

Thinking of voting for Joe Plant? Having difficulty finding a parking space? Don’t forget who created the Park and (get taken for a) Ride parking chaos.

This is what Joe Plant means when he talks about democracy; when the figures are in his favour, they are all right – when they go against him, he claims that the figures support his view.

The whole focus of the park and ride scheme was altered, without public consultation, when NYCC decided to fund the scheme with a grant from the government under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund
Yorkshire Coast and Moors Area Committee 30.11.2011.

Andrew Bainbridge (Team Leader LTP), in introducing the report, reminded Members that;

“The purpose of the LSTF funding was to boost the economy and reduce carbon emissions and that the final bid should not depart significantly from, nor exceed in cost, the expression of interest. In addition, the LSTF was currently the only available source of funding for the Whitby Park and Ride and should the bid not be successful it would not be able to deliver the Park and Ride in the foreseeable future. [North Yorkshire County Council Executive 24.07. 2012].”

County Councillor Carl Les said he wished to echo what County Councillor Wood had said about the provision of park and ride facilities for Whitby, which he believed would provide a considerable boost to the economy of that area.

You will notice that there is no mention of ‘priority parking for residents’ which was what we were promised and which is what we voted for.

From: Cllr.Joe.Plant@northyorks.gov.uk
To: [redacted]
Subject: RE: Whitby Parking
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 12:30:03 +0000

Thank you for your email.

It has to be remembered it was the public etc back in 2010 who supported the scheme. (Remember, we voted for priority parking for residents)

Nobody forced them to have their views and over 8000 people were allowed to express their views. 1400 returns and 75% in favour.

It was not politicians[sic] or officers, it was the public and if you believe in democracy then we should carry the majority. The reason why we are here today is because of democracy.

I will base my thoughts on the on democracy as well.

Regards

Cllr Joe Plant

Just like Joe, former Highways supremo (now safely retired) Nick West constantly claimed that 75% of residents were in favour of the parking scheme, so how can this be true?

The main question in the 2010 so called ‘public consultation’ was this;

• “Do you support the introduction of controlled parking zones to provide priority for residents?”

Sounds good doesn’t it? Naturally, everyone took this at face value and many, but not all (the percentages varied from 52.9% to 84.9% in each zone) voted for the proposal.

I read the small print, the scheme does not give priority to residents at all, this is SPIN-DOCTORING, in the best traditions of Alistair Campbell and Peter Mandelson; anybody can park in any of the zones, providing that you either have a resident’s permit, a scratch card, a tradesman’s permit, a business permit, or a parking disc. The whole scheme is a con-trick, the ‘public consultation’ in 2010 was a con-trick, the so called survey was ‘fixed’, the main question was ‘loaded’ you don’t have to live in Zimbabwe to see how democracy can be manipulated to serve the ends of a vested interest minority.

These are the figures, prepared by the NYCC Highways Department, which are listed in the report which were presented to our decision-makers on Thursday,19th September, 2013, at the Yorkshire Coast and Moors Area Committee meeting, these are the figures which are pertinent now, and which Joe Plant is apparently choosing to ignore because they do not support his ‘set in stone’ views about the parking proposals.

NYCC did not have a mandate for the P&R because they asked us to vote on whether or not we were in favour of the introduction of controlled parking zones (CPZ) which would give priority parking to residents. We voted for this proposal, but then the aims of the P&R scheme were changed in order for NYCC to get government funding for the scheme.

We were never consulted on these changes.

NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
YORKSHIRE COAST & MOORS COUNTY AREA COMMITTEE
19 SEPTEMBER 2013
PARKING MANAGEMENT PROPOSALS IN WHITBY & SANDSEND
ASSOCIATED WITH THE WHITBY PARK & RIDE SCHEME
SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT
Report of the Corporate Director – Business and Environmental Services

7.9 The analysis in table 1S shows that a majority of respondents to the consultation exercise (893 respondents, 82.2%) were not favour of the proposals for on street parking measures.

7.10 A more detailed consideration of the reasons given for not being in favour of the proposals shows that the majority relate to the parking zone proposals and concern about parking availability, the complexity of the proposals and the cost of residents’ parking permits. A significant proportion of responses raised concerns about the introduction of on street parking charges and the detrimental impact that could have on the attractiveness of Whitby as a tourist destination.

7.11 The majority of respondents (776 respondents, 78.5%) answered ‘no’ to the question whether they felt that the prices proposed for the on street parking charges and permits were reasonable. The main reasons given for the ‘no’ response related to concern that the charges were too expensive and that the parking charges, especially those for residents permits, should not be the source of funding for the proposed park and ride service.

7.12 The consultation questionnaire also provided an opportunity for people to express their opinion on the proposed times of day that the parking zones would operate and the proposed maximum length of stay permitted with a disc. A majority of respondents (686 respondents, 72%) were not in favour of the proposals with the main reason being the difficulties that the zones would create for visitors and that free time limited parking durations should be extended.

NYCC – 19 September 2013 – YC&M Area Committee
Supplemental Report – Parking Management Proposals in Whitby & Sandsend/8

That’s democracy, Joe Plant style.

Regards,

Richard

Richard INESON, Whitby. 6th May, 2015.