Anger at van drivers parking dangerously on High Street

By llinham

Glastonbury's congested High Street came under scrutiny at the last meeting of the town council.

Concerns that delivery vans stopping in the narrow High Street were making the road dangerous, causing problems for motorists and even pedestrians, were voiced by Councillor Spencer Cox.

His concerns were backed up by Glastonbury beat manager PC Mark Pople.

"There is an issue in the High Street with vans, which park in the road and even on pavements to make their deliveries to shops," said Mr Cox.

"The drivers are ignoring the double yellow lines and the kerb markings, which state there should be no unloading. Obviously, we can – and do – issue fixed penalty notices, and over people on, but I agree that if some loading bays can be found, it would help the community greatly."

Councillor John Keery suggested that the taxi rank in the High Street could "double up" as a loading bay for businesses.

MrCox said he had seen firsthand the additional workload the deliveries were putting on the police, who were forced to "spend time chasing after vans, up and down the High Street." He said: "It's not a good image for the tourists who come to our town and for the residents who are generally getting hacked off that they can't get up and down the High Street.

"I can't imagine the traders are too happy either, if the drivers who are delivering their stock are being moved on all the time."

PC Pople said he hoped they could work with the community to find a solution.

A suggestion by Councillor Jim Barron for a survey of the shops to find out which businesses had rear access was overruled, although Mr Keery's suggestion that the council contacted individual businesses and the Chamber of Trade and Commerce was agreed upon. He said: "The chamber will be heavily involved; we need to talk to the businesses for their views before we put together a proposal and start looking at providing loading bays."

Councillor John Brunsdon warned that if the situation didn't improve, there could be renewed calls for the High Street to be pedestrianised.

"The idea of the relief road was to take the pressure off the High Street," he said.

"The situation is getting so bad that if something isn't done soon, the High Street could see some suggestions made they won't necessarily find attractive."