Fears over parking at bingo hall
A bingo hall in Hednesford town centre will suffer if controversial proposals to introduce parking restrictions are given the go-ahead, its owner has said.
Andrew Reilly says proposed changes to the length of time people can stay at some of the 165 spaces outside Hednesford?Bingo are likely to drive away customers. Plans have been put forward to give Aldi control of 121 of the parking spaces at the Chase Gateway site when it opens a store in the town, and impose fines on anyone staying in the bays for more than 90 minutes.
But Mr Reilly said leaving only 44 bays available without a time limit for the bingo hall, which attracts around 2,000 people weekly, was not enough.
Already 119 people have signed a petition on the council's website objecting to the changes.
Mr Reilly, who lives in Hednesford and has run the bingo hall since 2008, said: "To have a 7,000sq ft bingo hall with only 40 car park spaces seems to me quite disproportionate.
"I hope and pray that we can come up with some sort of a solution but without some sort of compromise, I fear the worst and dread the consequences."
The club opens at 11am and stays open till midnight.
Mr Reilly has organised a meeting with the council, in Beecroft Road, on Friday.
Councillor Diane Todd, Cannock Chase Council's town centre regeneration leader, said: "Short-stay parking at Chase Gateway was required to bring Aldi into Hednesford and the decision was taken with the best interests of the whole town centre in mind.
"The 90-minute restriction is to make sure that people can park who are using the new Aldi supermarket and the other shops and services in the town.
"The 121 short-stay spaces are not just for Aldi customers – anyone visiting the town can use them. The remaining 44 spaces at Chase Gateway will not have short-stay restrictions on them."
The new Aldi store is set to create 25 jobs.
