A Heavy Load
New restrictions will make life harder for small businesses, according to a Western Road trader
More than 500 people signed a petition to protest about new loading restrictions in Western Road. Traders fear that it will make it harder for them to offer deliveries to customers. And it will take longer for them to unload stock for their shops and leave them more exposed to thefts. Adam Campbell is one of the traders affected by the change and he has been leading the campaign against the proposals.
Mr Campbell turned up to a council meeting last week to hand in the petition and took along a 10kg bag of compost to reinforce his point. He said: “The council told me I can put it in a wheelbarrow and wheel it round. The nearest place I can possibly park is 80 metres away.” Mr Campbell suggested that councillors or officers came and tried to lug a typical delivery of 20 bags of compost even 80 metres. No one accepted his offer.
His shop – Gill’s Home and Garden – is one of about 45 businesses affected by the new loading restrictions on the north side of Western Road, Hove, between Holland Road and Montpelier Road. Mr Campbell, a former Conservative candidate for the council, said that the restrictions should apply to the northern side in the morning rush hour and the southern side in the evening rush hour. He said that this would reflect the prevailing bus traffic.
He said: “I understand what you’re trying to do and I actually agree with it but there has been minimal and risible consultation. Why impose loading restrictions only on the north side of Western Road when the prolonged indiscriminate parking is mainly on the south side of Western Road? I would rather be running my business than running a campaign. But when faced with a serious threat to mine and other businesses, you leave us no choice.”
Mr Campbell, who also runs the Western Road Traders Association, said that he had even received an email from the council admitting that no one had written in to request the new restrictions. Yet, he said, “you have all these citizens on our petition and those who have emailed and telephoned you, asking you not to impose these restrictions.”
Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, leader of the opposition Conservative group on the council, said: “Mr Campbell has persistently made his points. I would have thought it was logical to have a restriction on one side in the morning and the other in the afternoon. That would be fair.” Mr Theobald used to have the job of making the decisions about parking and loading matters such as this.
Councillor Pete West, a Green cabinet member who had the job of deciding the issue in the absence of his colleague Ian Davey, said: “My understanding is that the congestion is in both directions. Western Road is one of the most heavily congested roads in both directions and any parking there adds to that, particularly in peak hours. It’s not possible to provide a loading bay but we will compromise and restrict loading in peak hours only – from 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm. And we will look at loading bays in side roads.”
After Councillor West agreed to the new loading restrictions, Mr Campbell interrupted the meeting. He told Councillor West: “You and Councillor Davey are barred from my shop. If you don’t support us, you may not use us.” He threatened to form human chains across the road to make deliveries, adding to the congestion that the council is trying to minimise.
