Town needs to be welcoming for people wanting to spend day

THE more I think about it, the more ridiculous the idea of creating a park and ride car park in the heart of Rawtenstall for people using buses to go to Manchester becomes.

News of the car park emerged as part of the negotiations by Rossendale council to encourage Transdev, which operates the Witch Way, to use the multimillion pound bus station when it opens.

It would have been a little embarrassing if Transdev had opted to continue using bus shelters in the town, of course.

Rosso, which operates most of the buses around here, was already on board for using the new bus station and indeed will actually run it.

The park and ride prompted fears that long-stay parking in the heart of the town centre would be to the detriment of short-stay shoppers.

So now charges are planned for people staying over three hours.

That’s upset the Friends of Rawtenstall group, and some traders, particularly businesses like hairdressers, where it’s quite likely you may spend more than three hours.

Rossendale council argues that three hours is more than enough time to do your shopping in Rawtenstall.

I think that’s quite defeatist.

If the vision of our main town is to make it an attraction for tourists, then it needs to be welcoming for people who want to spend the day here.

Also, charging for parking will only move the problem on to on-street parking or car parks further out, such as at the East Lancashire Railway.

This is a problem of the council’s own making.

Each problem seems to be solved by creating another problem.

A park and ride in the heart of the town centre appears to be the ultimate problem here.