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I'm sure this will be a relief to the residents, and bearing in mind that shoppers are stung for parking just to browse our array of £ shops it's only a matter of time before we have no town centre at all.

could not agree more. parking permits good for the residents. and on the other side why would people pay to park to go to the pound shops and charity shops and dodge teenagers pushing prams and kids giving everyone abuse when you can travel 5 mins east to boro or 30mins north to newcastle or 40 mins south to york and pay the same in parking but get a whole array of shops to choose from.

Just park on the "wrong" side of Duke Street and pay nothing all day. The traffic wardens can't give you a ticket and the police are too busy with paperwork and doughnuts to do anything also.

I refer to bobs comment about Police with paperwork and doughnuts,correct we are swamped with paperwork,but the doughnut bit is because we have no station canteen facilities of any kind and have no alternative to eating on streets.

Chris, I thought by law work places are to supply canteen facilities. However, can you tell me why people get away with parking on Duke Street and not get a ticket,it is only a matter time before there is a serious accident because of these selfish and tightwad motorists restricting the street down to one lane.

residents have a certain right to be able park thier car by thier home, it drives me mad when i cant park near home especially if you have a baby or lots of shopping. and last time i was in town thier was onl 3 pound shops one of which will be closing soon.

residents don't have any right to park near their home at all, as long as a car is taxed, tested and insured it can be parked anywhere if there is no parking restrictions

[quote][bold]dave[/bold] wrote: could not agree more. parking permits good for the residents. and on the other side why would people pay to park to go to the pound shops and charity shops and dodge teenagers pushing prams and kids giving everyone abuse when you can travel 5 mins east to boro or 30mins north to newcastle or 40 mins south to york and pay the same in parking but get a whole array of shops to choose from.[/quote] Let's be realistic! Parking in a short stay car park in Darlington costs £0.80 per hour, with an additional hour extra if you pay for two hours, therefore £1.60 for 3 hours. I personally find that good value for money. Let's compare options! If you wanted to get public transport it would cost you £1.20 per journey, which isn't cost effective if more than one of you is shopping. Car parking in Middlesbrough is approximately the same but you have the additional price of getting there in the first place. I know from experience that Newcastle & York actually charge more but do offer you all day parking in most car parks, although York will cost you approx £10. So if you stayed for 5 hours, in theory it would have cost you £2.00 per hour. Once again you also have the additional cost of getting there as well. Also if you are comparing Darlington to Middlesbrough your comments are hardly accurate. I quote "Why would people pay to park to go to the pound shops and charity shops and dodge teenagers pushing prams and kids giving everyone abuse". If you believe Darlington is bad for this, then the reality is that Middlesbrough is probably 5 times worse. I believe Darlington to be a more attractive town centre and pleasant atmosphere. While I will go to Middlesbrough for the additional choice now and again, I find Darlington more than adequate for general shopping. Hopefully the choice will improve if the Oval shopping complex finally gets off the ground, but with the current economic situation this does seem a bit of a dream at the moment.

[bold]I go to darlington college and there is nowhere to park!!!!! You can't get parked in the college because there is not enough spaces![/bold]

So get off your lazy backside Kirsty and use public transport or better still walk/cycle. I am a Haughton Road resident and am absolutely tired of college students thinking they have the right to park wherever they like, blocking pedestrian crossing islands, parking on pavements where you can't get past with pushchairs - thankfully this is all double yellow lined now, so hopefully this won't be an issue anymore. The point is, residents need to be able to park near their houses and anybody wanting to go shopping should use the car parks provided. We have a really cheap parking scheme, why do we live in an age where we expect everything to be free? Car park charges are there for a reason, to provide secure parking. If people are being cheap enough to browse pound shops, then they can surely afford a few pence for car parking.

I do agree with parking permits but if you are on a minimum wage and working 5 days a week travelling into darlington to pay that amount of money everyday makes a big hole in your pocket before you use anything else to support your family!! So maybe a cheap rate for all day parking could be the solution!!

[quote][bold]ali[/bold] wrote: I do agree with parking permits but if you are on a minimum wage and working 5 days a week travelling into darlington to pay that amount of money everyday makes a big hole in your pocket before you use anything else to support your family!! So maybe a cheap rate for all day parking could be the solution!! [/quote] Northern Echo readers should check out the Darlington Council website. All day parking is available in a number of the car parks charged at £4 per day with a weekly ticket also available. In my opinion parking is becoming a problem because people don't want to rely on public transport, which I admitt seems to be getting worse in Darlington at the minute. But perhaps if more people used it, the operators would have to improve the services offered, as I have noticed the decrease in the standard and number of services is in proportion to the increase of the number of people using private transport over the years. Public transport options in Darlington would cost £7.50 for the Town Pass and £10.00 for the Borough Pass

[quote][bold]ali[/bold] wrote: I do agree with parking permits but if you are on a minimum wage and working 5 days a week travelling into darlington to pay that amount of money everyday makes a big hole in your pocket before you use anything else to support your family!! So maybe a cheap rate for all day parking could be the solution!! [/quote] Northern Echo readers should check out the Darlington Council website. All day parking is available in a number of the car parks charged at £4 per day with a weekly ticket also available. In my opinion parking is becoming a problem because people don't want to rely on public transport, which I admitt seems to be getting worse in Darlington at the minute. But perhaps if more people used it, the operators would have to improve the services offered, as I have noticed the decrease in the standard and number of services is in proportion to the increase of the number of people using private transport over the years. Public transport options in Darlington would cost £7.50 for the Town Pass and £10.00 for the Borough Pass

[quote][bold]ali[/bold] wrote: I do agree with parking permits but if you are on a minimum wage and working 5 days a week travelling into darlington to pay that amount of money everyday makes a big hole in your pocket before you use anything else to support your family!! So maybe a cheap rate for all day parking could be the solution!! [/quote] Perhaps these people could walk or cycle? That would soon fill the hole in their pockets.

What a self centred pompous knowall you are Miketually.

The Town car parks are just a cash cow for the council to expliot, the council are not intrested in resident parking. They just want to force motorist's into there cash cow car parks to fleece them.

How on earth is miketually a pompose knowall? He happens to talk a lot of sense, if only you lazy pigs would stop polluting our beautiful town with your filthy cars we'd all be better off, and Brian, what a ridiculous thing to say about the council, nearly all towns charge for car parking, this is so they have money to build car parks to stop you lazy articles moaning that there is nowhere to park, seriously, get a life. Miketually, rock on!

Thanks Mel, not that I really care what Fred thinks of me, especially based on one comment on a website. I have no idea how anyone on minimum wage would expect to be able to run a car. When we couldn't afford a car, we did without. If people are driving short distances, driving isn't expensive enough yet.

I used to cycle into the town centre quite regularly - until some toerag stole it from outside the Tpas bar (yes it was chained). Now I just use my 4X4.

I agree with you Fred. I've thought it for some time actually. Mel Wilson appears one too.

Miketually, I see on your website that you drove 950 miles in one week. I hope you offset your carbon by planting a carrot, or whatever. I personally enjoy riding bikes (I own three), however I don't go around banging on and on about it all the time, preaching to others how superior it is to be perched on a saddle. Come to think of it, I wish you would "get on you bike", and take Mel with you too!

Why don't you bang on about it then Fred? I'm proud that I don't contribute to traffic queues and pollution and as a fellow cyclist you should too. Now excuse me while I go polish my environmental halo

To be honest Mel, I am bit of a fair weather cyclist. I really enjoy driving my car when it is raining.

I wish all you cyclists would ride on the road instead of the pavement , then I could walk without having to constantly look over my shoulder. Aren't bicycles supposed to have bell's and lights? I'll be glad when the people in government wake up and make you all pass riding tests and get mandatory licenses. Pedestrians are an endangered species.

Kathleen, "all us cyclists" do ride on the road as it is illegal to ride on pavements, as it is also illegal to ride without lights in the dark - just like a car. I think the people you refer to are chavs on bikes who have no respect for others - these are in a very different league to cyclists. Pedestrians also need to be reminded that the pink bit of pavement is a cycle path and not to be used by pedestrians suantering along

Dear Mel ,the portion of North Road were I walk has no cycle paths and how would I know who are "chav's" since you rarely see any others.I have met people who consider themselves responsible cyclists who don't follow those rules and were unaware that they existed. These are normal everyday working people trying to do their bit. A cyclist of whom i asked advice when I bought my cycle told me that no-one bothered with that stuff. The lady in the cycle shop backed him up and she cycled to work every day. So how do I pick you out of the crowd?

Fair comment Kathleen, it frustrates the heck out of me when I see cyclists on the pavement, sometimes,understand ably, its because they are too scared to ride on the road. I'm not sure if the cyclist in the bike shop is right when they say nobody bothers with it, its probably more fear and ignorance than anything else. Maybe all those so called "high car park charges" could be put to good use and pay for cycling courses to make cyclists more road aware ;-). And on that note,I'm just off to negotiate Haughton/McMullen Road rush hour (on my bike of course!)

I agree with Nathan at the top fully. It must be a nightmare for people who live near the town centre however its their choice to live there isn't it? The same as people who live near schools complaining, if it bothers them that much surely to make life easier the best option is to move? I have a bike but wouldn't dream of riding around the ring road or busy areas as from past experience car drivers drive far to close. I also have a car and luckily for me theres nothing to go into the town centre for, to many sandwich shops, charity shops and mobile phone shops. If I need to go the odd time I will drive and pay the high parking prices rather than pay to travel on them dirty over priced busses that run 2 or 3 together. And I use my car because I can, thats why I bought it.

I'm slightly worried that Fred apears to be stalking me (*joke*), but the 950 mile trip was a one-off for a holiday, which was impossible to make by any other means. It annoys me when I see people riding bikes on the pavement, although it's sometimes understandable why they choose to. The Home Office also understands that sometimes people might choose to ride on the pavement, which is why it advises officers to only fine those riding irresponsibly. Lights are required by law after darkand you'd have to have a death wish to not fit them. Bells are not required to be fitted, and helmets are not required to be worn. However, I see far more cars driving dangerously and illegally than I do cyclists, and they have the potential to do far more harm.

It’s so nice to see that the cycling community is so pleased with the extra double yellow lines the council are painting. But they are only a self centered bunch of hypocrites, the fools think the extra revenue created will be spent on there pink cycle lanes. Wake up, the money is being spent on the council perks and blunders, if you really want to make a difference walk into the over staffed town hall and look at the council vehicle pool then count the carbon foot prints. This cycle lobby are more interested in bashing the motorist instead at looking at the big picture.

I’ve only just recently stated cycling… last Friday in fact. The other day I had a meeting at the depot at the rear of Hundens Lane, next to Darlington College, and allowed 30 for traffic and finding a parking space as I would have done when using my car. The journey took me 8 minutes from my home; Middleham Road. The only problem encountered were two teenage girls who kept to the bike path and I was forced to use the pedestrian path… is that ok miketually? I’m enjoying biking much more than sitting in a car and hopefully I’ll loose some weight and get fit at the same time… I’d encourage anyone to do the same.

[quote]The only problem encountered were two teenage girls who kept to the bike path and I was forced to use the pedestrian path… is that ok miketually?[/quote] Technically, pedestrians are allowed to walk on either part of the segregated paths, while cyclists are only allowed on the bike half. In practise, you'd get some funny looks and comments saying "excuse me" to people walking on the bike part, when the other half is free, so I just slow down and use the other half. I like to think the fact people like walking on the red tarmac so much gives a real indication of how scared pedestrians are of cyclists (i.e. not at all).

Brian, I remember the saying about winning an argument on the internet, so I won't bother trying.

Glad I found this site.Can someone help me, while riding my bike along the southside footpath on West Auckland road the other night after dark I was thrown from my bike after I ran into a black binliner full of rubish that had been left out by a resident for council collection. I have hurt my leg and damaged my bike, should I make a claim with the council or the resident?

I am a cyclist and i have lived in the town all my life and i ride my mountain bike on the paths, and i have absolutley no probs with doing so.I know first and foremost i am much safer on the paths and than i am riding on the roads and its survival and my own survival at that. SO, Why take that chance in the first place,when there are buses, work vans, delivery vans,lorries,police cars,taxis,motorbike s,ambulances, fire engines, normal cars, and vans all speeding about. Also, the people driving these vehicles range from boyracers, old grannies,gypsies,dri nk drivers,drug drivers, and general ding-a-lings to taxi drivers and illegal immigrants driving with no licenses, and this is THE TRUTH, AND IS FACT, so i don't give two SHINEY SHITES, who passes comment on ere, talking aload of ****. I am not gonna take that chance for one of the ABOVE listed to clip me and i am curtains or badly injured just so it makes other people ON ERE, happy. AS, i don't ride my bike when there are pedestrains ahead of me with kids and that, no i do get off my bike and walk and i only ride when the paths are clear and there is plenty of space ahead of me. SO, that is my comment on this topic and the voice of reason has spoken and i am not gonna change my opinion, for some limp, wristed, councillor, gimp who talks out his arse or for anyone else so good day and happy moaning.

Ian, so instead us pedestrians have to worry about knocked down by you cyclists then?

Right on Jim, Its time we had more proper cycle paths. As for drivers I have met some banned drivers who have taken to the pavement's on bicycles. They still drive as if they had a car. My complaint is that the good cyclists are going to be penalized because of the bad ones. If we had a government licensing scheme this would make responsible cyclists visible and identifiable. The police could then concentrate on the others. It is time we recognized that modern day cycles are two wheeled vehicles and not boy toys.

Do what i do in town!. i have a mobility scooter i can fly around the town on. even after a good drink. and i can park it anywhere i want even in the shops. ,pavement etc,because i have more rights than a pedestrian. ps,im very much fit myself.

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