Please get your objection in on Pembrey yellow lines by 18th January 2019

Carmarthenshire residents have until Friday 18^th January 2019 to object to the yellow lines and a possible pay and display car park near Pembrey Country Park. The yellow lines were painted on roads leading to car parks near Pembrey Country Park and Cefn Sidan beach back in September of last year. Due to public pressure, the council removed some of the lines.

However, the Council are now looking at making the lines permanent, and people have until Friday to object. A sample objection letter has been created, which is shown below:

Re: File Ref. RWJ//HTTR-1510

I wish to object to the making of a Permanent Order on the terms of the Experimental Order to prohibit parking, particularly as it applies to the Factory Road area in Pembrey.

In my view the reasons given for this restriction do not hold up.  I have frequented this area over the last six years and have noticed no increase in the number of parked cars and no damage to verges or dunes.  Nor have I heard of any emergency vehicle access problems.  The excuse that it is part of a Ramsar site is not correct as this Wetlands designation for the Burry inlet does not extend to Factory Road.  I would further challenge the estimate of 50-60 cars parking at the end of Factory Road as there is physically no room for so many, even counting the short area of road to the Pembrey Country Park entrance barrier.

In addition I would like to make the following observations:

1. Access to nature reserves should always be free and encouraged.  With the current emphasis on health and wellbeing,  the Council has an obligation to take into account the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.  This is a chance to promote unrestricted access to the countryside in Carmarthenshire.
2. The end of Factory Road is not known as a parking area except by locals who use it to access the Pembrey Burrows and Saltings Local Nature Reserve and the beach rather than Pembrey Country Park.  It is not even convenient for the Park as it is a long way from the barrier on Factory Road to the main facilities.
3. If the “Fisherman’s Car Park”, also known as Pembrey Burrows Car Park, is to be a designated parking area then advertising this fact would doubtless lead even more people to use it, thus defeating the object of the Order.
4. If it was to become Pay and Display, a matter over which there seems some confusion, then visitors may use it as a cheaper option to access the Country Park.  This would also be contrary to the understanding that free public access to the beach and Burrows would be assured for future generations.  This was established nearly fifty years ago when the Save Our Sands campaign succeeded in preventing the whole area becoming a gunnery range.  Without this victory there would be no Pembrey Country Park.
5. Prohibiting parking on the stretch of road between Factory Road and the Pembrey Country Park access barrier puts more pressure on the parking area at the end.  Mainly it is used by dog walkers and nature lovers wishing to access the Nature Reserve, especially those with limited mobility who cannot walk or cycle there.  It is convenient for older people and older dogs.
6. This stretch opposite the Nature Reserve entrance is frequently used by groups holding events in Pembrey Burrows, such as walking groups, naturalists, bird watchers, conservationists and litter pickers, and there is sufficient width for cars to park both sides.  With the addition of the parking area at the end as an overflow, there is enough space for all. 
7. If the number of cars using these areas of Factory Road for parking is indeed increasing, then surely this is a measure of the popularity of the area for outdoor recreation.  Parking should not be restricted at a time when people are being encouraged to get out and experience nature for both mental and physical health.
8. The yellow lines are an eyesore in such a beautiful rural area, and totally unnecessary for the single track road from the football field car park down to the end of Factory Road.

In summary: I think it is wrong to restrict access.  Parking pressure and environmental damage are not an issue, and the ugly yellow lines should be removed.

Residents need to send their objections by 18th January 2019 to the Head of Administration and Law at Carmarthenshire County Council, County Hall Carmarthen SA31 1JP or by email to rwjones@sirgar.gov.uk.

Please put ‘I object’ or similar in the first sentence so that your letter will be counted as an objection.

PUBLIC NOTICE

THE COUNTY OF CARMARTHENSHIRE (WITH THE EXEPTION OF CARMARTHEN LLANELLI AND AMMANFORD) (VARIATION 31)

(EXPERIMENTAL PROHIBITION OF WAITING AND STREET PARKING) ORDER 2018)

NOTICE is hereby given that on the 14^th July, 2018 the Carmarthenshire County Council made an Order under Section 9 and 10 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (“the Act”) as amended and the Traffic Management Act 2004.

The effect of this Order is:

1 To Prohibit waiting at any time on the side of road and length of road specified in the Schedule to this Notice.

2 To Suspend “The County of Carmarthenshire (With the exception of Carmarthen, Llanelli and Ammanford) (Waiting Restrictions and Street Parking Places)” Order 2004 (The Consolidation Order) insofar as it relates to the length of roadway and sides of roadway specified in the Schedule to this Notice.

The Order contains the usual exemptions including the right for passengers to board or alight from a vehicle, for the loading and unloading of goods, for the carrying out of building operations and other works, for the performance of statutory powers or duties and to enable a vehicle to take in petrol, oil, water or air from any garage situated adjacent to such parts of the road affected by the Order. 

In addition, the Order contains the usual parking concessions for disabled persons in accordance with the Blue Badge Scheme.

The Order will come into operation on the 25^th July, 2018 and a copy of the Order containing full particulars together with a map indicating the side of road affected and a statement of the Council’s reasons for making an Experimental Order may be inspected at the offices of the Carmarthenshire County Council at the Customer Service Centre, 3 Spilman Street, Carmarthen and at The Hub Stepney Street, Llanelli during normal office hours.

After an initial period of 12 months the Council will then consider whether the provisions of the Order are to be continued in force indefinitely.  If you wish to object to the making of a permanent Order on the terms of the Experimental Order then you should send the grounds for your objection in writing to the Head of Administration and Law at Carmarthenshire County Council, County Hall Carmarthen SA31 1JP by the 18^th January, 2019.

Any person who desires to question the validity of this Order or of any provision contained in it on the grounds that it is not within the powers conferred by the Act or on the grounds that any requirement of the Act or of any instrument made under it has not been complied with in relation to the Order, may, within six weeks of the date on which the Order was made, apply to the High Court for this purpose.