Rise in parking problems on Church Street and Canon Square

THE volume of cars parking on Church Street and Canon Square has become a problem says a local resident, with drivers parking on double yellow lines and in an area that does not permit parking in the day time.

The road outside the Post Office on Church Street has double yellow lines and signs in Canon Square say that drivers cannot park on the road between the hours of 8am and 6pm.

However, the resident has told Melksham News that people continue to park there and the volume of traffic has increased at certain times, with a rise in pollution and reported incidences of the emergency services not being able to access the street.

They said, “People are parking their cars on Church Street with the intention of only being ‘two minutes’ or popping into the Post Office but they never are, they are usually much longer than that. A warden has probably been down here two to three times in the past two years. It’s difficult for people to pass in wheelchairs and motorised scooters because the cars are blocking the area.

“When there was a death in the cemetery recently, the area was so full of cars that the police and ambulance could not park as close to the scene as they wanted to be. Ambulances have been hit by cars and paramedics have been unable to access their ambulances because the cars have been parked too close to them. With the increase in cars comes more car fumes. The issue has gotten so bad and people need to be aware of it.”

Parking in the town centre has been a controversial issue over recent months, as Wiltshire Council increased parking charges in the car parks by 10p per hour; introduced parking charges for Blue Badge holders and introduced Sunday parking charges in all car parks.

To support residents with parking charges, Melksham Town Council runs its own parking redemption scheme in the town centre’s car parks, allowing shoppers to claim back the cost of two hours’ parking at participating retailers in the town.