“Horrendous” parking issues on seafront

Call for more disabled bays

“Horrendous” parking issues near the seafront in Westward Ho! could be addressed with more disabled parking bays, councillors have stressed.

Cllr Louis Bach (Ind, Westward Ho!) said there are only four or five disabled parking spaces of the 130 or so in the main Westward Ho! car park owned by Torridge District Council.

He told the council’s internal overview and scrutiny committee that anyone who went to the seaside resort or looked at social media would be aware of the problems of people parking on double yellow lines around local streets.

He said many were blue badge holders, who are entitled to park for three hours on double yellow lines provided it is safe to do so and there are no restrictions on loading or unloading, but more suitable spaces in the car park might help the situation.

“Blue badge holders still have to pay in the car park so there is no loss of revenue to the council,” he said.

Cllr Doug Bushby (Ind, Bideford North) said there were cars all the way along the seafront by an ice cream seller and around the bend.

“It’s horrendous,” he added. “I have written to Devon County Council about it because it causes gridlock.”

The county council has been approached about putting restrictions in place for unloading in the Golf Links Road and Nelson Road areas.

Torridge’s car park manager Steve Macey said it had been a problem over the 17 years he had been doing the job.

He was concerned that elderly people and those with mobility problems but no blue badge would be pushed back further into the car park if more disabled bays were created.

“There is no easy solution,” he said.

There was no minimum or maximum number of disabled bays that should be provided. Mr Macey said an extra one was added in the car park last year.

Councillors agreed to refer the item to the communities and resources committee.