Rotherham: free parking for xmas shoppers. Will Sheffield respond?

[Penistone999 10]

The private sector parking is cheaper than the Council and they are not full either. There is not an infinite number of people who want to come and park in Sheffield.

 

They are building the new markets right now, the steel frame is up, so how do you expect to use the site for parking?

 

The supply of parking is not the problem, there is currently an oversupply of it.

 

Bringing new sites into use costs money, significant amounts of it. Don't forget, they have to pay business rates on the car park, so they have ongoing costs after it's all built.

 

Cost of parking is only one part of the picture, the retail offer has to be good to attract hordes of shoppers.

 

As the Council only control a small sector of the parking market, if they made their car parks free, you might expect that city centre workers, who get there before the shoppers, would fill the free places anyway, leaving little actual improvement for shoppers. That's what happens elsewhere where they do free parking.

 

Not surprising really , considering how SCC are so anti car , and make life as difficult as they can for motorists wanting to drive into the city centre.

[Resident 1,193]

This is the problem. Even with free parking, it's not worth going to the town centre as you won't be able to buy very much. There are hardly any chain stores (no M&S, no BHS, no Debenhams etc).

 

It's a shame because I used to go to college in Rotherham and it had a decent town centre then, but not any more.

 

+1 on this. These days it's mostly Pound shops & gambling establishments.

 

The funny thing about this is that the largest multi-story car-park (over the bus-station) is currently closed as they're rebuilding the access ramp.

 

I've never been shopping in Doncaster but I do get the train to Doncaster sometimes when I'm heading home from London. I don't know whether the range of shops is better but I'd say it's at least equal to Sheffield. Doncaster's advantage over Sheffield is that the town centre is not as spread out, and a lot of the shops are under cover in the Frenchgate centre. Of course, anyone from Sheffield who wanted that kind of shopping experience could easily go to Meadowhall, which does have free parking.

 

I have been shopping in Doncaster and like you I've taken the train to get there. It's attached to a massive shopping centre (Frenchgate). Plenty of big name shops in there and then just further a field a 5 min walk is the market with a shopping promenade linking the two. Also the bus station is underneath the shopping centre too. Parking can be a nightmare in Donny but with those transport links it's not hard to get to and from using public transport & I think this is one of the downfalls of Sheffield and Rotherham alike. The public transport links aren't close enough for people to consider using them rather than the car so they don't go.

Edited October 27, 2012 by Resident

[Andy 10]

Not surprising really , considering how SCC are so anti car , and make life as difficult as they can for motorists wanting to drive into the city centre.

 

Everyone says this, and I used to believe it myself. But since I moved away from Sheffield, this is no longer my impression. Access to the city centre is relatively easy from the Parkway. Why do you think the council are anti-car?

[Penistone999 10]

What do Barnsley and Doncaster have, that Sheffield doesn't?

 

Councils that recognise that the majority of visitors to their town centres will be traveling by car ,and they make their town centres as car friendly as possible , unlike some of their larger neighbors.

[Andy 10]

Parking can be a nightmare in Donny but with those transport links it's not hard to get to and from using public transport & I think this is one of the downfalls of Sheffield and Rotherham alike. The public transport links aren't close enough for people to consider using them rather than the car so they don't go.

 

I didn't think parking was that much of a problem. As well as the multi-story over the Frenchgate Centre there are a few other surface and multi-story car parks dotted around. I worked in Doncaster for about a year and never had trouble getting parked, and when I'm using Doncaster station and ask to be picked up, whoever is picking me up never had any trouble parking in the Frenchgate multi-story. This included last Christmas when I needed to be picked up on the Saturday before Christmas and dropped off the day after Boxing day. On both days there were queues but we were able to find a parking space.

[Planner1 438]

The kind of shops that are open,have you been down the moor lately.

 

Yes thank you I have, there are still plenty of shops open down there. There's much more to Sheffield than the Moor.

 

As I have already said, the opposite side of the road to the markets is going to be redeveloped early next year.

[Planner1 438]

Not surprising really , considering how SCC are so anti car , and make life as difficult as they can for motorists wanting to drive into the city centre.

Would you like to point out any larger cities in the UK where it's easier to drive into the city centre?

 

Congestion in Sheffield is probably less bad than other similar size cities. Accessing the city centre is simple and there is plenty of parking which is easy to get to.

 

What do you get out of making statements like this which are clearly untrue? People like you do this city a great disservice.

[Planner1 438]

Councils that recognise that the majority of visitors to their town centres will be traveling by car ,and they make their town centres as car friendly as possible , unlike some of their larger neighbors.

They are also much smaller and consequently have much smaller volumes of traffic to deal with.

 

These places use exactly the same traffic management measures as Sheffield.

[anywebsite 10]

Would you like to point out any larger cities in the UK where it's easier to drive into the city centre?

 

Congestion in Sheffield is probably less bad than other similar size cities. Accessing the city centre is simple and there is plenty of parking which is easy to get to.

 

What do you get out of making statements like this which are clearly untrue? People like you do this city a great disservice.

 

Manchester? Leeds? Not tried Birmingham, Liverpool or Glasgow yet, London is quite a lot larger - but it's public transport system is much better.

Edited October 27, 2012 by anywebsite

[Hots on 10]

Simpletons?

 

I must say, for a Labourite you dont really get into the spirit of workers uniting, calling the people of Rotherham and Barnsley simpletons, and Leeds folk scum etc.

[Planner1 438]

Manchester? Leeds? Not tried Birmingham, Liverpool or Glasgow yet, London is quite a lot larger - but it's public transport system is much better.

I'm talking about driving in.

 

Manchester and Leeds?

I've worked in Manchester and wouldn't even attempt to drive into there in the rush hour.

 

Congestion getting into Leeds can be terrible, the queue often starts at Wakefield on the motorway.

[anywebsite 10]

I'm talking about driving in.

 

Manchester and Leeds?

I've worked in Manchester and wouldn't even attempt to drive into there in the rush hour.

 

Congestion getting into Leeds can be terrible, the queue often starts at Wakefield on the motorway.

 

Maybe not in rush hour, but I don't break my back on speed bumps on major routes into the city centre in Manchester, I can easily get into the centre outside busy times - at least from the m67 or m60. There isn't really a rush hour in Sheffield, most people have to move away if they want a decent job, it's just pensioners left here - it's nothing to do with good road design, it'd be better if they hadn't messed it up over the last 30 years.

Edited October 27, 2012 by anywebsite