Residents see red as double yellows and parking restrictions penalise ‘horse and cart’ town

DOUBLE yellow lines have become the scourge of towns and villages across Carmarthenshire. Most people would accept that they are a necessary evil outside hospitals, schools and other places where emergency vehicles require access and people’s safety is of concern.

The Covid pandemic has meant that a lot more people are holidaying in the U.K. and the First Minister himself Mark Drakeford became an unofficial ambassador for Visit Wales during his press conferences telling people that there has never been a better time to holiday in Wales.

Anyone wishing to visit Kidwelly is instantly met with a dilemma. Where does one park the charabanc? With fewer and fewer parking spaces and more and more double yellow lines there doesn’t appear to be a positive answer.

Now residents in Kidwelly are seeing double yellow over Carmarthenshire County Council’s plans to make an area of the town a restricted parking area (See Map).

Joan Squibs Dibble who runs the Kidwelly and Mynydd Notice Board is one resident who has an opinion on the changes. She said: “I live in New Street and the council are changing parking on the junction of Ferry Road and Water Street.

“We have double yellows there now but they are upgrading to no waiting. People affected by that will not be able to park or unload shopping and drop off children.”

Asked if she had approached the council Joan said: “ We had a  zoom meeting  with the county council and put our feelings forward. A large majority of people also emailed their views.”

Asked if the council had listened to the views of the residents Joan said: “They have not listened, do they ever? It doesn’t impact on me but we are supporting our neighbours. The restrictions affect about ten houses. The restrictions will not stop people parking on double yellows who are going into Spar. The fear they have is that it will also devalue their houses. It is a nightmare.”

Asked if anyone had approached their political representatives Joan Said: “Nia Griffith was emailed as was Lee Waters. The reply we got from Lee was that it was a Carmarthenshire County Council problem not a Senedd problem.”

Joan questioned the validity of councillors. She said: “Why does the leader of the county council earn more than Prime Minister? They are our servants we pay them. It wouldn’t happen outside their place. The problem is people are too apathetic to vote.”

Asked what the solution could be Joan said: “Don’t put restrictions in. Address the problem of non residents parking on double yellow lines at the junction instead of punishing residents for the behaviour of irresponsible motorists. We are pushing tourism but there is nowhere to park. We need to be looking at different ways to accommodate the motor car and visitors not penalising a few local residents.”

Comments on the notice board included:

Zoë Morgan-Williams: Am I reading this right? When you follow the link to the notices it says no waiting/unloading/loading Ferry Rd/water street? So does that mean I cannot park outside my own house to unload my food shop?

Susan Thomas: It looks like all of Kidwelly is affected if you go to the site!

Simon Ratty: Its total madness and you couldn’t make it up. Guessing attention has been brought to this ‘problem’ for them to consider such a wholesale implementation of parking restrictions hmmmm…….. ?

Crish Davies: We’re a horse and cart town, we have to learn to live with those quirks in a world where cars exist, to make the roads safer, implement changes to slow the traffic down. People need to park, we have to work realistically with what we’ve got.

We contacted Carmarthenshire County Council and asked why the council was not listening to the concerns of residents. We asked why residents were being penalised for the irresponsible behaviour of visiting motorists. We asked why the restrictions have been introduced and if any other solutions been investigated. We also asked, if given the rise in visitor numbers, has the council considered using any sites in Kidwelly for extended parking or park and ride etc.

The council’s executive board member for environment,  Cllr Hazel Evans said: “Public consultation on the proposal to restrict loading and unloading on this specific area highlighted on the attached map was advertised for public comment and the consultation period closed on July 23 2021. In addition to this the local member along with officers organised a virtual public meeting  on 19 July where proposals were fully discussed. We are currently reviewing all comments and responses received during the consultation and we will respond accordingly.”