10:37am Tuesday 26th September 2006
By Charis Mastris
BOURNEMOUTH council is going back to the drawing board in the hope it can come up with a solution for a congested road that does not damage local businesses.
The decision comes after Seabourne Road shopkeepers asked the council to reconsider plans to ban parking on the narrowest part of their road, the main route between Pokesdown and Seabourne Grove.
The council's engineering services manager, Geoff Turnbull, told the scrutiny and review panel that the move to remove the current 30-minute restrictions on the road was made after requests from bus operators due to delays to their services.
He added that it would improve pedestrian safety and lessen damage to vehicles, with drivers no longer mounting the pavement or hitting each other as they squeeze through the narrow carriageway.
Although the two nearby car parks are losing some spaces due to redevelopment, he said they are currently under-utilised and more parking may become available if the library is redeveloped.
But several shopkeepers made impassioned pleas against the move, saying it would ruin their businesses in an already dwindling shopping area.
Geoffrey Bevans, representing Zebedee Fabrics, said: "In commercial terms, the area has been declining for several years.
"The further restrictions on parking will accelerate the decline."
Tina Patterson, who owns a salon on the affected strip, said: "I have sat in my salon for seven years building up my clientele and working very hard.
"The parking's very important outside - that's the reason I took the salon up. I have disabled people and children coming in."
And Sally Derham-Wilkes, of dressmakers and alterations business Fancy That, said: "Seabourne Road is becoming a major traffic corridor and it seems to us that buses are always given priority.
"Our other concern is how the council has handled the matter - we feel there was an attempt to pull the wool over our eyes."
Ward councillors spoke in support of the shopkeepers, and five out of eight councillors agreed other alternatives should be considered.
Cllr Ben Prescott said something had to be done to improve the congestion on that part of the road. "It's utter chaos along there," he said.
Cllr John Hayter, cabinet member for strategic development and transport, agreed to look at alternative measures for the road in consultation with ward members and shopkeepers and make a formal decision on the matter.
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