PARKING IN BUSY WELSH CENTRES.
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The Authorities in Cardiff and Swansea Trying to Arrange Better Facilities for Coach and Bus Owners.
TBE Cardiff Watch Committee his adopted a report of the chief constable (Mr. J. A. Wilson) which deals at length with the public parking of vehicles, and makes particular reference to omnibuses and coach 'parks" and the desirability of encouraging motor coaches to the city. The adoption of this report means for the future the allocation of the following sites as legitimate street parking places :— The western side of Dumfries Place, the western side of Westgate Street from the stand used by buses on the Cowbridge route to the Angel Hotel entrance to Cardiff Arms Park and the Guildhall Place, with sites in Cathays Park as follow :—(a) The southern side of the carriageway in the triangle at the southern front of the Law Courts; (b) the western side of the Gorsedd Gardens; and (c) the eastern side of Museum Avenue. In addition, the northern side of Park Street, to the west of the entrance to the G.P.O. yard.
Draft regulations for these parking Sites were also submitted by the chief constable, who stated that the authorities had to provide for parking sites not only for residents of the city but also those from beyond the boundaries, who had hitherto been in a quandary as to 'there to park their vehicles.
According to the report, it is the policy of the corporation to encourage visitors from surrounding districts. Many of them make the journey to and from Cardiff by saloon buses and charsa-bancs, and during the summertime it is no unusual thing to see from 25 to 50 coaches bringing parties of visitors to Cardiff.
Dealing with the length of time during which a vehicle might remain on a public parking-place, the chief constable points out that it is obvious that the fixing of a time limit would cause complications, and it is therefore suggested that no limit should be fixed for motor coaches.
The committee was reminded that it had no power to charge for the use of these parking-places, and that this factor must be considered in arranging for attendants to look after vehicles. The " parks " must be free to users, as they were public thoroughfares. It was mentioned that a system might be arranged whereby there should be regular attendants who were not paid by the corporation, which, however, would permit the men to receive gratuities from
vehicle owners and drivers. It was thought advisable for the corporation to provide the attendants with numbered badges. The chief constable proposed that he should be permitted to appoint, so far as possible, disabled ex-service men as attendants.
The question of the parking of motor vehicles is also acute at Swansea, where the council has a committee investigating the possibility of an extension of the facilities for street parking and examining the position of termini sites for buses. It is stated that the lack of a central parking ground and the difficulty of finding termini accommodation B44 in streets causes applications for bus licences to be rejected by the council.
A few days ago the Swansea Chamber of Trade discussed the question and considered a report from a special subcommittee which had gone into the matter. This sub-committee concluded
that trade was lost to the town by reason of the restricted number of parking-places, and it was decided to recommend the corporation to (a) provide a number of small parking-places in little-used side streets as near the centre of the town as possible ; (b) provide "parks" near amusement centres and public buildings; and (c) accept the co-operation of the watch committee of the Chamber. Several well-known motor fleet owners and other users are associated with the Chamber in the effort to secure adequate parking-places.