The neighbourhood that’s sick and tired of being ‘the car park of Manchester’

A campaign has been launched to tell motorists that Ardwick is ‘not the car park of the city’.

The campaign, supported by a councillor in the area, was launched in December because residents in the suburb ‘have had enough’, activists say.

The group — called Not The Car Park Of The City (NTCP) — says there has been an ‘influx of city centre commuters, university staff and students, and hospital staff and visitors’ parking on residential roads ‘in recent years’.

There are also concerns about the proposed development which could come to the area that would see a 12-storey, 14-storey, and 29-storey buildings housing thousands of students — plus a nine-storey science building — built on Upper Brook Street.

Now, NTCP says it is ‘advocating for viable solutions to alleviate the parking burden on local residents’.

“My house off Justin Close has parking spaces at front and back, and they’re always occupied, mostly by visitors who drop their litter and sit there, engines running with loud music pumping,” one resident, who gave his name as Steve, said.

“This is not only an inconvenience to residents with permits, unable to park — like my disabled neighbour who often has to park away from her house and walk over uneven terrain with a stick — but it also creates a great deal of stress, particularly in the summer, when one cannot open the windows and my two year old boy can't play in the back garden because of the exhaust fumes.”

The group claims the issue has got worse in recent years

Steve added that ravers going to a ‘nightclub on Grosvenor Street’ have ‘woken myself and my family at 3am by congregating in the car park, making noise and sniffing gas’. Another resident on the Brunswick estate called Emma said the parking can also result in pushchairs being forced into the road.

“During working hours our street is always full of cars and vans, you can see people returning to move parking space after three hours too,” she said. “This means delivery and service vehicles then park on our pavements forcing pushchairs and wheelchairs into the road.”

Councillor Amna Abdullatif, an independent who left the Labour Party over its stance on the Israel-Hamas war in October[3], has backed the campaign. Referring to the proposed development, she said: “The reality is that if these developments do not provide adequate parking, the overflow will inevitably spill into residential areas, exacerbating the existing parking challenges.”

The plans to build on Upper Brook Street were deferred at Manchester city council’s[4] final planning meeting of the year on December 14 to allow for a site visit to take place.

In response to the concerns set out by NTCP, a spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: "The Council fully sympathises with people who are affected by problem parking in their neighbourhoods.

"A significant amount of money has already been invested in residential parking schemes across Manchester which aim to reserve space for local people. The Council remains committed to working with residents and stakeholders across our neighbourhoods to ensure that any problems identified can be solved.

"Although there has been a lack of legislation from Central Government to tackle this type of behaviour, the Council does employ a range of officers to patrol communities and issue fines to people who are parking illegally. Also, additional investment is being made into promoting more environmentally friendly ways of travel, moving people away from the car and towards more sustainable modes of travel."

The University of Manchester and Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, which runs nearby Manchester Royal Infirmary, have been contacted for comment.

References

  1. ^ 'It cost me £17 to park for three hours in Manchester, motorists are being priced out of the city centre' (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  2. ^ The latest house prices in every Greater Manchester postcode area - from most to least expensive (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  3. ^ the Labour Party over its stance on the Israel-Hamas war in October (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
  4. ^ were deferred at Manchester city council’s (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)

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