This post was originally published to Facebook here

Greetings All,

As you may have seen from the recent Parish Council Minutes we were approached by the Parish Council Parking Working Group to expand on some suggestions (not plans, just suggestions) we made in our response to the Parking Survey last year. We thank them for their time taken to engage with us. As a result of this process the Parish Council was presented with a brief outline concept that we agreed with the Parking Working Group.

The minutes are here: http://www.finchingfield-pc.gov.uk/.../minutes-2020....

We thought it might be helpful to provide a little more detail on what has been suggested, not least as the meeting minutes are unable to go into much detail.

We stress these are just ideas we are willing to work up, not plans we have already put in motion. There is also no guarantee either or both options are viable as we are yet to do any significant exploratory work.

In summary, there are 2 areas where, in theory, we might be able to develop some additional parking, but only if there was support from both the Parish Council AND local community. To help everyone get a handle on the areas being talked about a rough map is attached to this post.

The two proposed parking ideas are independent of each other, so one or other, or both, could be further developed if the support and interest was there.

**Resident's Parking**

The Causeway, between Street Farm Barns and Duck End (the field next to the footpath that cuts through the grazing field to Spains Hall Road). (Red area on the map).

We could look at creating 7-9 nose in parking bays on the flat area at the top of this field. These would then be rented to residents by the Estate. The rest of the field would remain as it currently is, grazed/mown grass.

This proposal will only go ahead if;

1) the Parish Council are successful in placing double yellow lines along the Causeway, so preventing other vehicles from parking across these bays and blocking residents paying for the spaces in/out; and

2) If local residents express some desire to rent these spaces from the Estate so that we can cover the cost of developing and maintaining them and make a small annual profit.

**Summer Temporary car park**

Riverside Meadow, Spains Hall Road (orange area on the map).

We have suggested that the Estate could, at our own cost, develop a grass surface, summer only (probably Easter-September) paid car park on this field for anyone who wishes to use it, but mainly targeted at visitors to reduce congestion in the village centre.

The vehicle entrance/exit would be on Spains Hall Road almost opposite Finchingfield Holiday Cottages. Pedestrians could use the footpath through to the Causeway. The car park would be open to all vehicles, including motorbikes. It is envisaged that this car park would only be opened on pre-agreed set dates (such as weekends and Bank Holidays). These dates would tie in with parking restrictions in the village centre (see more detail below).

The profits from this car park would be retained by the Estate but with a donation based on an agreed profit share made to the Parish Council (this was at their suggestion and is something we support).

The Estate would have to do some work to the entrance gateway to make it more suitable, add a fee collection hut (manned at the Estate's expense when the car park is open) and possibly some works to level up some areas of the field.

However, the field would remain predominantly grazing/agricultural. The footpath through the field would remain unaffected and unobstructed. We may also consider adding a temporary toilet facility if demand was sufficient to cover the cost.

In 2021 we have suggested to the Parking Working Group that if they are able to secure parking restrictions and enforcement on set days this summer then we could open this field for parking for a limited trial period (a few days/weekends etc) to see how it works.

If the field was unsuitable for vehicle use (for example after heavy rain/flooding) then the car park would be closed.

This proposal will only go ahead in the longer term if;

1) the Parish Council are successful in securing support from the authorities to roll out scheduled, patrol enforced, parking restrictions in the village centre on days when the grass car park is due to open. If this isn't possible then there is simply no point operating a paid car park when people can park for free elsewhere.

2) If local residents don't wish to see this car park happen then we certainly aren't going to become embroiled in an argument, so will withdraw the suggestion and do something else with the field.

I hope this adds some detail to the concepts we have put forward and please feel free to voice your support (or otherwise) before we go much further down the line of incurring time and cost investigating the viability of either option.

If you would prefer to contact us privately then please feel free to email enquiries@spainshallestate.co.uk

Many thanks for your attention in making it to the end of what is a rather long post!

Archie