There is an interesting reference to the possibility of a park & ride proposal from the A 39, but disappointingly. no consideration has been given to the role that the railway could play here. Purbeck District Council has worked closely with the Swanage Railway to provide an excellent park & ride facility avoiding the congested A 351 through Corfe Castle, and this has set the standard of best practice which WSDC would do well to consider.

The report confirms that the Station car park is the best used in the town, with peak usage well in excess of 100% and relatively little seasonal or daily variation during the survey period. This lack of capacity has not been addressed in the plans so far tabled, although it is understood that revisions have been made which increase the number of public parking spaces likely to be available for visitors to the railway.

One significant failing of the report is that it looks at the nominal car parking stock, rather than the actual number of places. This is particularly apparent in the case of the Market site which is not marked out or charged as a car park, but has been well used as a such (other than on market days) and has provided important capacity for rail passengers.

The aim of the strategy described is “to evenly distribute the demand across the parking facilities available” (para 2.13), but such an approach is hopelessly inadequate from the point of view of the railway. Passengers are heading to the station, often to catch a specific train, and will not accept diversion to a remote location to park, with the inconvenience and uncertainty that this entails.

The Company could not agree with the view expressed in para 9.1 that “the redevelopment of the three major parking sites should not cause any major problems…” Judging from local reaction to the proposals, this is clearly not the case, and it is hard to understand how the consultants could have reached this conclusion in the light of the data we supplied them. They have already caused problems for the railway.

The conclusion has to be that the strategy as so far developed is inadequate in failing to address these issues and others raised by the railway with the council over many months. The conclusions are flawed, and throughout, the potential of the railway to contribute to a transport solution has been ignored, as has its needs as a major tourist attraction and its role in driving the local tourist economy.

Chris Austin
Chairman
25 February 2005

Details from WSR Plc