Can I park here?

RioRob said:
I believe there are at least 6 oversize bays in Barnstaple town, 3 in Bear Street and 3 next to the police station. There are more in Seven Brethren lorry park.
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Yes the 3 in Bear street I didn't even know existed until this year when I was speaking to the parking warden who was ticketing a MH who was taking up two bays , both paid for. Even then he was sending a swb VW T4,which like me fit in a normal bay, to use them whilst ignoring the 7m sprinter van parked up & over hanging by metres.
By all accounts Seven Brethren you can park a MH all day for £1,70 I think he said?
Clarky said:
Am I bonkers or would it work?
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No.First problem is you would need a reduction in the exorbitant business rates, Then you would have to get shot of the charity shops.:D2
 
Our County Council is starting to shoot itself in the foot regarding car parking.

They have recently 'invested' our money in one of the shopping centres in Shrewsbury, my nearest large town.

The multi storey carpark attached to the centre used to charge £1 an hour plus 50p ie 5 hours would cost £5.50. When I visited last week (and not knowing of any change to the charges) I remarked on how empty the car park was for a Friday. On leaving, I got stung for an eyewatering £8.80 for just under 5 hours ie £1.80 per hour.

Yes, there are edge of town surface carparks @ 50p - 75p per hour but these are predominantly used by town centre workers so there is already pressure on them.

How long before they realise that the town's dying and they are contributing to that, I wonder?
 
gus-lopez said:
First problem is you would need a reduction in the exorbitant business rates
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Recent press reports (e.g. the revised closures of House of Fraser stores after the Sports Direct takeover) point to rents rather than rates being the main problem.
One of the stores which will now close is in the Metro Centre (which has masses of free car parking) because Intu won't reduce the rent.
 
I know for a fact all the local supermarkets and the retail parks spaces have got smaller round here as I've lived here all my life and these days the larger cars overhang the spaces[/QUOTE]

And therein lies a large part of the problem. Cars, in general, are far larger than even 15 yrs ago and certainly more of them.

(Just caught up with @GJH :))

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I don't know about changes in the bay sizes but where I live it seems to be Chelsea Tractors, if they are actually in the bay, you cannot park next to them as they fill the bay, no room to open a door.
 
The Dotties said:
I know for a fact all the local supermarkets and the retail parks spaces have got smaller round here as I've lived here all my life and these days the larger cars overhang the spaces
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And therein lies a large part of the problem. Cars, in general, are far larger than even 15 yrs ago and certainly more of them.

(Just caught up with @GJH :))[/QUOTE]
Yes

BUT

as I stated I had many of the same model of vehicle which never changed size and back when my son was born in 1998 and my twin daughters in 2001 I could park a vw t4 caravelle in a supermarket carpark be able to open the cab doors enough to get out without hitting the cars either side and get a buggy between the t4 and the car next to me.

These days I can't in fact I struggle to open the door enough to squeeze out of my mum's kia picanto.

Some cars have got bigger yes but the spaces are definately smaller around here
 
GJH said:
Perhaps you should complain to the car park owners and ask them for an explanation of why they have reduced the bay sizes.
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I know why they reduced them


To get more cars in.



Any reason they offered other than that I wouldn't believe so why waste my time lol.

They also made the lanes slightly narrower and put arrows on them so instead of being able to pick the lane with the space you've now to drive up another lane and go round.

Sometimes the planners just need a slap
 
Electraglide said:
I don't know about changes in the bay sizes but where I live it seems to be Chelsea Tractors, if they are actually in the bay, you cannot park next to them as they fill the bay, no room to open a door.
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In this area it is often small cars (city type) that cause a problem. Plenty of room in the bay for them but the drivers are unable to park centrally, often leaving the vehicle with the near side wheels on the line :doh:

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GJH said:
Sorry, forgot you don't do establishing the facts :D2
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Yes you could say that but I'm a realist

Before the spaces were bigger =less cars

Now they are smaller = more cars

Goverment, council etc have a war on big vehicles , raise road tax increase fuel duty , make it harder to park offer zero road tax etc on smaller cars then when folk buy the smaller cars abolish that plan and increase tax again

That's the UK...if you don't see that I can't understand how.

As I've said on other threads I go with what I see with my own eyes and not what folk tell me.
My mother used to say I was named after doubting Thomas :D

I just think we are lied to on a daily basis so I'm very un trusting
 
Northernraider said:
Yes you could say that but I'm a realist

Before the spaces were bigger =less cars

Now they are smaller = more cars

Goverment, council etc have a war on big vehicles , raise road tax increase fuel duty , make it harder to park offer zero road tax etc on smaller cars then when folk buy the smaller cars abolish that plan and increase tax again

That's the UK...if you don't see that I can't understand how.

As I've said on other threads I go with what I see with my own eyes and not what folk tell me.
My mother used to say I was named after doubting Thomas :D

I just think we are lied to on a daily basis so I'm very un trusting
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I don't believe you:)
 
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Our local Asda has just resurfaced there car park and marked it out with gaps in-between the bays. Still get them that can't park even with the larger sizes.

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Northernraider said:
as I stated I had many of the same model of vehicle which never changed size and back when my son was born in 1998 and my twin daughters in 2001 I could park a vw t4 caravelle in a supermarket carpark be able to open the cab doors enough to get out without hitting the cars either side and get a buggy between the t4 and the car next to me.

These days I can't in fact I struggle to open the door enough to squeeze out of my mum's kia picanto.

Some cars have got bigger yes but the spaces are definately smaller around here
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Perhaps you ought to look at the single garages in 70-90s houses. Today you cannot get the average car in one, yet they were big enough back in those days. Cars have definitely got bigger, and more importantly wider. For instance, a Ford Escort back in 1968 was 1.57metres wide, now the near equivalent, a Ford Focus is 1.85metres wide. My first car was a Saab 96 which was 1.57 metres wide and 4.05 metres long. My current car an SUV, a Mitsubishi ASX is 1.77 metres wide, and 4.3 metres long, not as wide as the Ford Focus!

If councils are to make wider bays, then there will be less bays available, and the cost to park will rise.
 
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Northernraider said:
That's ok I don't expect you too:)
If you think the spaces are the same size near you I can't argue with you.

But there's been numerous arguments around here for it
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It was meant to be an amusing repost to the last line of your post:)

I would have highlighted that line but I don't know how to on this tablet.

I know little and care less about the relative sizes of car park spaces:)
 
thebriars said:
Perhaps you ought to look at the single garages in 70-90s houses. Today you cannot get the average car in one, yet they were big enough back in those days. Cars have definitely got bigger, and more importantly wider. For instance, a Ford Escort back in 1968 was 1.57metres wide, now the near equivalent, a Ford Focus is 1.85metres wide. My first car was a Saab 96 which was 1.57 metres wide and 4.05 metres long. My current car an SUV, a Mitsubishi ASX is 1.77 metres wide, and 4.3 metres long, not as wide as the Ford Focus!

If councils are to make wider bays, then there will be less bays available, and the cost to park will rise.
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I'm aware cars have got bigger

Doesn't change the fact that the spaces HERE have got smaller

When younger my cars were all fairly big I had American chevys, Pontiac transam etc , custom vans , jags, granadas , big rovers, etc etc never had an issue parking any of them back then.

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Cars are definitely getting bigger both longer and wider .. car park spaces are not keeping up with this trend.. but some are definitely wider than others.

In our estate, some houses have paved drives with two rows of concrete, laid down in the 60s.. .. modern cars straddle them ..

A picture says a thousand words.. google any popular car for the old and new size comparison.. .

Fiat 500 then and now
 
scotjimland said:
Cars are definitely getting bigger both longer and wider .. car park spaces are not keeping up with this trend.. but some are definitely wider than others.

In our estate, some houses have paved drives with two rows of concrete, laid down in the 60s.. .. modern cars straddle them ..

A picture says a thousand words.. google any popular car for the old and new size comparison.. .

Fiat 500 then and now
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You also have to remember that whilst they may retain model names they have added others to the brand

For example in the 80's the Ford fiesta was the smallest ford now it's the ka which is probably the same size as the fiesta was back then.

Same with Vauxhall the nova became the Corsa and now the Adam is the size the nova was back then.

Theres bigger models which of course struggle to fit.

The proof is when you have a vehicle from that era and stick it in a space today.

That's why I used the t4 as an example because it stayed the sane size for 13 years and I've had many of them.

My last one i owned last year and you coukd hardly get in and out the front doors in a standard car park space but I could before.

So whilst I acknowledge the fact cars have got bigger in my opinion the spaces are tighter
 
Northernraider said:
So whilst I acknowledge the fact cars have got bigger in my opinion the spaces are tighter
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that may well be.. I haven't stayed here long enough to make a long term comparison .. or come to definitive answer..

owners of car parks, be they council or private, no doubt want the to get as many cars as possible parked, that maximises the revenue..

In my last job I was a project manager for a London sandwich retail company , one of the jobs was laying out car parking for delivery vans.. squeezing in as many as possible.. there was no parking revenue involved it was making best use off the land available.

as a side note.. there is no standardised size for a car parking space.. it's down to the cap park owner .
 
scotjimland said:
Cars are definitely getting bigger both longer and wider .. car park spaces are not keeping up with this trend.. but some are definitely wider than others.

In our estate, some houses have paved drives with two rows of concrete, laid down in the 60s.. .. modern cars straddle them ..

A picture says a thousand words.. google any popular car for the old and new size comparison.. .

Fiat 500 then and now
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And minis aren’t mini any more!

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dalspa said:
And minis aren’t mini any more!
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I think part of the car size problem is the people's sizes have changed a lot too

With the majority of people in the UK now being more than average most people who currently own minis wouldn't have fit in an old mini lol
 
Janine said:
Our County Council is starting to shoot itself in the foot regarding car parking.

They have recently 'invested' our money in one of the shopping centres in Shrewsbury, my nearest large town.

The multi storey carpark attached to the centre used to charge £1 an hour plus 50p ie 5 hours would cost £5.50. When I visited last week (and not knowing of any change to the charges) I remarked on how empty the car park was for a Friday. On leaving, I got stung for an eyewatering £8.80 for just under 5 hours ie £1.80 per hour.

Yes, there are edge of town surface carparks @ 50p - 75p per hour but these are predominantly used by town centre workers so there is already pressure on them.

How long before they realise that the town's dying and they are contributing to that, I wonder?
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We visit Shrewsbury every other weekend. We normally park in the multi story and make a point of never staying longer than 3 hours for which we normally pay £3.50 On Saturday we parked for our usual period, we knew that the charges had changed but we thought that they had gone DOWN to 70p per hour as so many of the shops in Pride Hill Shopping Centre are lying empty.
Like you Janine we got a shock. Our usual £3.50 turned into £7.10 as we went past our usual 3 hours and hadn't been too concerned as we thought that the prices had gone DOWN. Nowhere in the car park did we see the new tariffs advertised although it did say that new tariffs started on 5th November.
I queried it at the attendants kiosk and was told that the cost was £1.80 per hour including VAT. He said that the 70p per hour was at the car park across the river. Think we'll be doing our shopping at Wrexham which is 5 miles further for us, but the parking is only £1.60 for 3 hours
 
GJH said:
The biggest factor in the increased size of cars, especially width, is safety (or so I have read anyway).
Those side airbags have to go somewhere.
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Still get them in fiat 500's though


I think it's fatties
 

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