The town where parking and driving is a 'nightmare'

People living in a town where parking is a 'nightmare' are being encouraged to walk and cycle as part of a new scheme - although not everyone is convinced.

Activate Clitheroe was formed by local residents who argue that parking and traffic is making the Lancashire town a "less attractive place to spend time and money". To address the problem without spending "significant sums of money", the local authority has launched an initiative to make people more aware of transport alternatives.

Yet not everyone is on board with the idea, Lancs Live reports. Rachel, who is Clitheroe born and bred, said the plans to get more people on their bikes or feet is a recipe for disaster. She said "You can go on one street, just off the town centre and they're parked on both sides so even an emergency vehicle has problems getting through.

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"We came up on a little mini link bus today and the number of times it had to stop to let cars come past because of double parking was ridiculous. Clitheroe has expanded so much, there's thousands and thousands of new houses and consequently, there are thousands and thousands of cars on the road in this area."

In July this year, Clitheroe saw a £60,000 revamp of Castle Street, a main thoroughfare in the town centre. The work comprised of "the narrowing and reconstruction of the carriageway, widening footways, the removal of the step on Castle Street near the junction with Parsons Lane and Castle Gate along with new local signage, parking and loading restrictions, benches, distinctive spherical bollards and other street furniture. The improvements include disabled bays to improve access to the town centre."

Paul McGowen, who owns Townsend Records in Moor Lane, said: "It is a nightmare to park in Clitheroe. Even worse since they did the road around the corner for parking and all that.

"They narrowed it and put some parking bays down for disabled people, which is fantastic, but delivery drivers use it all the time and disabled people can't get into it, so it's a pain in the backside. Anything that can get people into the town, but driving is a nightmare in Clitheroe."

Paul suggested that the wider area of Clitheroe could be put to better use. He added: "The space around the centre, that's what they need to utilise. It would be better if people would cycle in, walk in, get public transport in, because it's a lot easier. Less traffic is always good."

Clitheroe Town Councillor Mark Sutcliffe says that while the improvements did cause some temporary disruption, "they have dramatically improved the look and feel of the town centre and made the pavements safer for pedestrians."

Nick Gell runs Cowman's Famous Sausage Shop on Castle Street and says the disruption was an issue for his business. He said: "We lost a lot of trade when it did close, but I don't think it was all because of that, that would be unfair on the council to say.

He added: "We've had a few disabled people complain, even though they've made more disabled parking. They say they're struggling even more because they're taking it as a layby.

"We used to have a layby right outside the shop so the wagons could park right outside the shop but they can't do that anymore. So now they're going in there."

Coun Sutcliffe added: "The Government is preparing to make millions of pounds available to towns and cities which want to make their centres better spaces for people and to encourage walking, cycling and wheeling. This could, for example, involve swapping the zebra crossing between Booths car park for a pelican crossing to ease traffic congestion and improve pedestrian safety on Station Road.

"Activate Clitheroe wants to make sure Clitheroe gets its fair share of this funding and that it is spent on improving walking and cycling infrastructure and reducing traffic, congestion and especially inconsiderate pavement parking in Clitheroe town centre."

"Activate Clitheroe is not anti-car, but shopping habits have changed and families in particular want a safe environment to browse and spend rather than worrying about the safety of their children on high streets that are jammed with cars and frustrated drivers. According to research by Living Streets, High Streets where the pedestrian experience has been improved see footfall increasing by between 20 and 35 per cent."

Also on Moor Lane is Castle Chippy, with Nick Donnelly saying parking is a huge nightmare in the town and agreeing more needs to be done. He said: "Parking is a nightmare, it's pain, especially if you're working. There's no real place for long-term parking.

"There's a car park around here that's £3.50 for the whole day, so if you get here early enough you can park there but otherwise it's a bit of a pain. I park a mile away and walk up.

"The roads aren't safe anywhere. If you're in Clitheroe, it's not too bad, the roads are 20mph, well they're meant to be. If you go outside of Clitheroe, no."

When asked whether it's difficult for the business to receive deliveries, Nick said: "Yes, basically there's no loading and there's no parking. What we have to do is on a Wednesday when we get most of our deliveries, we put cones out and we've had a word with the traffic warden because our delivery driver's been given a ticket."

A Ribble Valley Borough Council spokesperson said: "Clitheroe is a bustling and popular market town, with excellent recreational walking and cycling opportunities around the town and across the Ribble Valley as a whole. Like every other town and city in the country, it faces challenges to the High Street from online shopping, cost of living and other pressures, but it continues to offer a mix of national and independent shops that bring in visitors from a wide area."