New Welshpool parking curbs win backing
New parking restrictions and double yellow lines could be introduced in a Mid Wales town to improve safety and traffic flow.
Welshpool Town Council last night backed plans by Powys County Council to extend yellow lines in a number of locations in the town while removing them altogether from Gungrog Road.
The changes would also see a ban on lorries unloading in the town between 7am and 9am and 4pm to 5.30pm to help tackle hold-ups in the town centre.
However, town council members voted against supporting extending yellow lines in the Woodside and Howells Drive area of the town.
The controversial plan to extend the double yellow lines up Woodside to just past the Armoury Recreation Centre was criticised by the centre's manager Chris Greatorex, who said he feared the move could spell disaster for the business.
He said: "We have become a victim of our own success in a way.
"Unfortunately there is not enough parking available for the volume of people regularly using The Armoury.
"We are telling our members not to park on current double yellow lines and if those lines are extended further it will create a real problem for the business.
"We have invested considerably in creating a health and fitness facility that Welshpool can be proud of.
"Hundreds of people use The Armoury every week and that is despite the current parking shortage, so any further restriction would not be welcomed."
Other areas where the lines could be extended are Oldford Rise and Oldford Close, with car parking spaces built on the grassed area in front of the flats.
The lines will also be extended in Bowling Green lane, Church Road, Chelsea Lane, Severn Street.
Yellow lines could also be extended further down Red Bank, in Brookfield Road and some corners further into the cul-de-sac by the school entrance.
Waiting times on the street will now also all be limited to 45 minutes in all bays except for outside the sorting office in Severn Street, which is to be 15 minutes.
Councillor John Morgan proposed backing the county council plans but with the withdrawal of Woodside and Howells Drive, which was backed by members.
He said: "I think we take these out as there are problems with Woodside due to customers at The Armoury and also with residential parking in Howells Drive."
