One of the big problems with newspaper articles where a dispute is concerned is that it’s normally the big company who has the final say and the little fellow who misses out on the right to reply. This is what has happened to me with regard to the articles that appeared in both the Sunderland Echo and Shields Gazette over the last 48 hours. The Echo’s article ended with a Nexus comment, and the Gazette again with Nexus and also South Tyneside Council. The problem however, is that both parties were economical with the truth and wide of the mark when it comes to full disclosure.
Lets take the Echo’s article first. Nexus are quoted as saying;
“Nexus has been trying for three years to purchase land needed to extend East Boldon station car park from 56 places to 170 but has been unable to get agreement from the current owner. We are as keen to sort this out as local residents, and to blame Nexus for the current situation shows a complete misunderstanding of the problem and the efforts we have made”
What Nexus has failed to point out is that they were told by residents during the public consultation process nearly 8 years ago that the car park was to small to accommodate the number of vehicles that were envisaged to use the Station at East Boldon. These concerns were completely ignored and Nexus pressed on. Admittedly Nexus have tried to buy additional land, but a few salient points have been omitted. The owner is the same person who they purchased land from to build the original car park, the same owner who has yet to be paid in full; after nearly six years Nexus have still to cough up for the land they have used! Why then, should the owner sell more land to a company that still owes him money from some time ago? Oh, and by the way, the amount that Nexus have offered for the new area is derisory, insulting and way below the lands full commercial value. Of course Nexus are to balme, the side streets in Boldon are packed with abandoned commuter cars during the working week. On weekends, when people are not at work in such large numbers, the streets are a lot quieter. When the Metro was shut down for repairs some months ago, there was no congestion! There is also the issue of planning permission. If Nexus were so committed to solving the problem, you would think they would have planning permission in hand and ready to go. Woops, wrong again. Nothing has been applied for, and until it has, no compulsory purchase of land can be applied for. So when it comes to efforts being made, the phrases “half hearted” and “PR exercise” come immediately to mind. As a result of their lack of commitment, there will be no cark park until at least 2010.
Moving to the Shields Gazette coverage, where the Nexus quote is reprinted in full. This time though, the Council have added their ten penneth, probably prompted by the Nexus claim that “Parking control on public highways is a matter for South Tyneside Council”. Their response is as follows;
“At the present time there are no proposals to introduce waiting restrictions on Station Road until the issue with the car park has been resolved. However, to improve the crossing facilities on Station Road, it is proposed to install a pedestrian crossing and associated road markings, subject to approval by the council’s cabinet this financial year”
Here we go again! The car parking issue will not be resolved this decade. The owner won’t sell, it’s green belt land and the only way to acquire it is through compulsory purchase. When asked at the March CAF meeting how long this would take, a full time council official admitted she didn’t have a clue because she had never done one before and hadn’t even looked at the in’s and out’s of the process. Well here’s your answer from a meagre shop owner; with objections at every stage, compulsory purchase can take up to 5 years. So five years down the line the Council will look at other measures to alleviate congestion. As to the pedestrian crossing, the council did have plans to put a refuge bay in the middle of the road. What they have failed to mention is that to do so they intended to take away three parking bays outside the shops to accommodate this. That’s three parking bays in an area blighted by the lack of parking spaces, three parking bays at a block of shops slowly being commercially strangled due to a lack of parking spaces! Words defy me as to the stupidity of the idea!
With letters being sent to the council from residents and public meetings being packed out with disgruntled home owners unable to park outside their own homes or use their local shops, why is the Council ignoring it’s duty of care to the people of East Boldon? Why is it allowing businesses to suffer and why is it allowing road safety to be compromised?
I have stated publicly at meetings, been quoted in the press and now I will reiterate it here; the problems of Metro parking congestion in East Boldon are as a direct result of the failure of Nexus and South Tyneside to acknowledge their social responsibilities to this community and no amount of denial or misleading statements can detract from this. If either of these bodies thinks I’m wrong, sue me, it will be a pleasure to go to court with all the trappings of media coverage and defend my case!
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