Parking In Hereford Becoming More Difficult On Match Days

Hereford supporter Colin Butler has sent BN a copy of a letter he had published in the Hereford Times this week.

'Back in April just under eighteen thousand people attended the final five home games of Hereford FC. An incredible amount considering the poor season the club have had. With less parking now available football fans are now having to find other places to park for a couple of hours like on the forecourts of closed businesses and a bit further a field in to local housing estates. Not ideal but that's what people have been driven to do (no pun intended) since the closure of the lower Merton Meadow car park in November. 

It's been closed for the creation of a flood alleviation pond, one of three planned in the area. Perhaps it would have been more sensible to create the other two ponds first . Then there would been no loss of many thousands of pounds of council car park revenue. Likewise shoppers are now finding it a lot more difficult to park up in the centre of the city now especially on football match days. I can see some shoppers choosing not to travel in to the city when Hereford are playing at home.

In the age of online shopping and decreasing shop footfall Herefordshire council need to realise that ease of parking and affordability are paramount. They pinpoint spare capacity within Hereford car parks but those spaces are not always in the right area and come at a much increased cost.'

The council are currently encouraging residents to air their views regarding the council's parking strategy over the next 15 years. May be good for supporters who want to add their opinion on the Merton Meadow . 

Here's the link:  https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/consultations/may/herefordshire-parking-strategy-consultation/