Parking in Coldean and Moulescoomb

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Thanks for the facts, that tallies with my estimates and experience.

I do find it staggering that the club or anyone else for one second thought these limits wouldn't be exceded, especially after the expansion. Rather than telling the council people wouldn't park there (which anyone could have predicted was wrong) maybe they would have been better advised arguing the case for fans parking there, given the lack of real problems caused and huge benefit to a certain section of support. When the realistic alternative is a £13 parking charge per match, you'd have to be a real dullard not to see it coming. Probably one of the problems of consulting only idealistic car-haters on a trust fund rather than actual driving fans on a tight budget.

I unclear whether you're unaware of the history of the Falmer stadium approval or have just forgotten some of the more gorey/tedious details; apologies if any of the following appears patronising, it is unintentional.

As someone's posted previously (Superphil), the nature and management of the transport to/from the Amex was a key part of the initial stadium approval given by the previous Labour Govt after two enquiries. Given the location of the stadium this is hardly a surprise.
Fundamentally, the focus must be on using sustainable means of transport and minimising the use of private cars. This principle has been carried through when the stadium design modification and, more recently, the expansion applications were approved by B&HCC. Without this continued commitment to sustainable transport, BHA would neither have been given approval to build the Amex nor had any of the subsequent amendments approved.
Maybe the club was naive in expecting supporters to go along with a voluntary arrangement, just like the "optional" transport voucher system they tried last season, and consequently they've had some significant financial losses. However, we now have a new CEO to sort out the mess and MP has been moved to Lancing.
As for where these cars are going to park next season: near-site parking is now available for 3,000 cars at the University, Bennetts Field and Bridge C/Ps (up from 2,200 last season which was never fully utilised anyway) and the Racecourse P&R is never more than 50% full.

 

[trueblue]

it's a load of Bollox if you ask me, I know the club's hands are tied, but what else do people do, trains are a joke, park and ride is a joke, I have always parked sensible in and around Coldean Lane, take that away and wtf do you do, every ground in the country has street parking.

Trains work fine for most people.

 

[chucky1973]

P&R 60 minutes ?? Really ?? I leave at the final whistle, jump on an H or S bus and in no time at all I'm back in Hangleton. Maybe the answer is to park in Hangleton and catch one of these buses.

what stand are you in?

 

[chucky1973]

Trains work fine for most people.

Not if you want to clap the team off at the end of the match.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

what stand are you in?

Varies from match to match - probably an even balance across North, East and West. Not had an issue catching a bus while being in any of these stands.

 

[Since1982]

I have suggested to my brother that he parks at HH and gets the train then back onto the A23 to drive home but thinking about it he may be better off parking at Hassocks nearer the A23. What are the facilities for parking there as he is considering Lewes and getting the bus in but the drive to and from Lewes isnt so good from the A23

Currently you could park around Hassocks station or even at the station itself but there are discussions underway about residents controlled parking here as well. Not sure how that would impact Saturday games but presumably woud be an issue for midweek games which is when people have the biggest issues. Given the under-use of the Uni car parks you have to believe that a reduction in price to max out this facility would be a sensible move. I arrive increasingly late for games, park in Car Park 1 right near the steps down thro the uni and there is lots of unused parking around me. I always slip out just before the final whistle and when I get back to the car park it is similarly empty so it doesn't fill up after I arrive either.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Trains work fine for most people.

but for a significant amount clearly not

 

[pornomagboy]

I've never had a problem getting the football special buses away from the ground, I have a lot of trouble getting either h or s bus from cardan avenue I wait at the bus stop every home game for about 45 mins and they never turn up if the club don't sort it out I will drive to closer to te ground

 

[LamieRobertson]

How do the numbers parking in Coldean/Moulsecoomb compare this season with last? I would imagine that the 'free' P&R would have made more people head for these sites rather than a possible long walk in inclement weather.

Also, how many parking incidents have been reported. incidents that lead to roads being blocked or vehicles towed away?

I'd like to see more P&R sites and have suggested some of the old factory car poarks on Crowhurst Road and Corals Stadium, both with easy access to the bypass.

The sliproad to Falmer flyover & the coach park need sorting though.

From my experience the parking in the Coldean area hasn;t changed at all..ive seen a couple of incidents with a buss which also happened last year until they put bollards down one side of a road off Coldean lane...for some reason they stopped doing it this year

 

[Deleted member 22389]

I will be sticking with pedal power. That has worked for me. Only downside can be the weather.
I did take a prebooked coach from Peacehaven earlier this season, very easy and only £5.50 return. I was back in Peacehaven by 10:20pm, evening match.

 

[chucky1973]

Varies from match to match - probably an even balance across North, East and West. Not had an issue catching a bus while being in any of these stands.

My one experiance of park and ride was last season, getting from North to where you queue, after 45 mins I gave up, walked to coldean and got a taxi! it may have improved

 

[Tooting Gull]

I unclear whether you're unaware of the history of the Falmer stadium approval or have just forgotten some of the more gorey/tedious details; apologies if any of the following appears patronising, it is unintentional.

As someone's posted previously (Superphil), the nature and management of the transport to/from the Amex was a key part of the initial stadium approval given by the previous Labour Govt after two enquiries. Given the location of the stadium this is hardly a surprise.
Fundamentally, the focus must be on using sustainable means of transport and minimising the use of private cars. This principle has been carried through when the stadium design modification and, more recently, the expansion applications were approved by B&HCC. Without this continued commitment to sustainable transport, BHA would neither have been given approval to build the Amex nor had any of the subsequent amendments approved.
Maybe the club was naive in expecting supporters to go along with a voluntary arrangement, just like the "optional" transport voucher system they tried last season, and consequently they've had some significant financial losses. However, we now have a new CEO to sort out the mess and MP has been moved to Lancing.
As for where these cars are going to park next season: near-site parking is now available for 3,000 cars at the University, Bennetts Field and Bridge C/Ps (up from 2,200 last season which was never fully utilised anyway) and the Racecourse P&R is never more than 50% full.

But no one is disputing the focus IS on sustainable means of transport. It clearly is, the moves have worked, and I think I'm right in saying our percentages are miles higher than most, even all other clubs in this regard. I always appreciate your analysis, because you know what you're talking about on this.

But you do say 'near-site parking is available' as if it is some direct alternative for parking in Coldean, a half-hour walk from nearer the top of the estate. One is for free, one costs £13. You can't just dismiss this as irrelevant, it is highly relevant in the current climate and an obvious predictor of behaviour.

And if the P&R at the racecourse is the only one that is consistently well under capacity, my own analysis would be that we are short of at least one big P&R where it needs to be (north, or off A27 close to stadium) and that the racecourse is not practical for a lot of people arriving, not least away fans.

I don't think for one second a few people parking at Coldean harms the overall thrust of the policy, but the tide is flowing in the other direction and even I can see what is going to happen. What disappoints me is that the people affected are also fans of the club, spending good money to come and watch and the club couldn't give a monkeys about them.

 

[Simster]

I can't help feeling the club is guilty of failing to control the controllables.

Given the location of the ground, it was always going to be unreasonable to expect a large volume of cars to be able to park within walking distance. Yes, as [MENTION=47]Tooting Gull[/MENTION] says, perhaps the club should have campaigned for adequate parking in these areas rather than accepting massive fines when too many cars park on a match day, but I just don't think this is a massive issue. Even in the Goldstone days, if you turned up late for a game with 25,000 in attendance, you could kiss goodbye to parking anywhere near the ground. The difference is that in those days, 25,000 turned up for BIG games whereas now we get that every single week, so I'm afraid if you turn up late for a run of the mill fixture you can't expect to park close by. That's just the way it is.

The trains are OK and crowd control is improving (except Boxing Day and whenever else Southern decide they can't be arsed) However, what has left me underwhelmed is the P&R situation. Who'd have thought Mill Road would be RAMMED 90 minutes before kick off while the other sites in less accessible places sat half empty? [/saracasm] The club need to redouble their efforts to think about other P&R locations, and obviously they should be near the main arteries/motorways. Mithras House? FFS. Hickstead would indeed be a good shout.

And whilst we're at it, there must be other ways the buses can approach the stadium that don't involve being stuck on the slip road for 15 minutes.

 

[Dave the OAP]

surely the easiest solution, and factoring in the amount of fines the club have had to pay is to put up a multi story car park on the site of Stanmer School ( now a car park) and to make sure it works , make all parking in Coldean and Moulescomb on match days residents parking only.

OK it may be an expensive thing to do, but costs can be offset by chanrges and not having to pay fines to the council

 

[Winker]

With all the delays and congestion around the A27 slip-road, it might make sense for some P&R buses, like from Mithras House, to stay on the A27 to the Kingston round-about. They could then come back and pick-up/drop-off on the long bus stop on the south side of the A27 by Falmer Station.

 

[ditchy]

For the purpose of this post I am not interested in conditions and/or voluntary agreements between the club and council.

I used to live in Ranelagh Villas, right behind Fonthill Road. Very easy on matchdays, do not remove car after 1pm, if you did then do not return before 5pm, simple.

This issue is soooo f**king simple! Our football club is adding around three quarters of a million pounds to the economy of our city every week.

But our local councillors want to make harder for the club to attract supporters, either because of their anti car policy, or because they believe that 4 hours on 25 days a year really impacts upon the residents of east Brighton.

Vote the wankers out.

This .. The council loves the extra revenue but does sweet FA to help continue it or improve it .. They are of the opinion that if you make travel by car harder the motorist will then use Public Transport. This is not the case

 

[The Large One]

This .. The council loves the extra revenue but does sweet FA to help continue it or improve it .. They are of the opinion that if you make travel by car harder the motorist will then use Public Transport. This is not the case

Apart from 'nothing' (evidently unacceptable to the residents), what do you propose the council does?

It's not as though they are going to financially benefit from this proposal.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Apart from 'nothing' (evidently unacceptable to the residents), what do you propose the council does?

It's not as though they are going to financially benefit from this proposal.

The council should be helping everyone in the city by giving the citizens what they need/want, the're not there as a profit making business needing to financially benefit.
Why do you thing the council should financially benefit from what they do?

 

[The Large One]

The council should be helping everyone in the city by giving the citizens what they need/want, the're not there as a profit making business needing to financially benefit.
Why do you thing the council should financially benefit form what they do?

In this instance, I don't think that they should financially benefit (though I don't think that there should be a cost to them either) - and I haven't indicated that they should. Nor are they going to.

The posters above are implying that the council is money-grabbing, yet their actions (in the form of the public consultation) are those of - as you put it - helping everyone by giving the citizens what they want/need.

 

[Garage_Doors]

In this instance, I don't think that they should financially benefit (though I don't think that there should be a cost to them either) - and I haven't indicated that they should. Nor are they going to.

The posters above are implying that the council is money-grabbing, yet their actions (in the form of the public consultation) are those of - as you put it - helping everyone by giving the citizens what they want/need.

Ta, Didn't realise the implication was that the council is money-grabbing.