Our street is becoming a ghost town – the council is making our lives hell with confusing parking rules
RESIDENTS of a once-thriving street say it is now a ghost town – and it’s led to fears more businesses will be forced to close.
Walsall Road, a street in Perry Barr, Birmingham, has been plagued with roadworks and confusing parking rules.
The owner of a popular café has even said she’s worried she’ll have to shut her doors as a result.
Cathleen Dookie, who runs Goodfillas café, said she had been left with crippling debt Birmingham Live reported.
She believes sprinter bus roadworks have restricted parking outside her business – worsened by the ongoing closure of the nearby car park.
Cathleen complained: “Customers cannot park and it has killed my business, I am in insolvency as I cannot borrow money anymore.
“I also have to close my business early everyday to save energy and my customers have dropped by 70 per cent.
“The customers who park on my road keep getting booked. The lines were painted around the time of the Commonwealth Games, then the road was resurfaced again creating more disruptions.”
She went on to say: “I was nominated last year for best café but what do I have to show for it? I am angry and frustrated, when I finish work I have to take care of my parents at home. I have no time to myself.”
Other local businesses have expressed similar concerns, with many seeing fewer customers.
Visitors have fewer options to park and fear getting tickets due to restrictions put in place as part of the new sprint bus service.
Kassim Mawji, 43, manager of Star Pharmacy, echoed these concerns, saying the area lost a lot of business.
He added communication with the council has been terrible and the parking rules have caused a lot of confusion.
The result has been a decline on the popularity of the area
It had has a huge impact on all businesses here. We have definitely seen less people coming because they are scared to park.
Kassim Mawji
Samantha, owner of SG Hair – a hairdressing salon in the area – even changed work hours to adapt to the parking bay times.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), who are behind the sprinter scheme along the A34, said businesses had been consulted over the changes.
They said the changes were vital to keep the network running, cut carbon emissions and clean the city’s air.
While the busy road has been a red route for many years, the parking bays were re-painted during road re-surfacing in 2021, this time with less space.
But TfWM responded this was to support bus operations and to prepare for the Sprint bus lanes.
A TfWM spokesperson said: “This section of Walsall Road has been a red route with double red lines for many years now and those red lines were re-applied during road resurfacing work in 2021.
“Two on street parking bays are now restricted to allow for operation of the bus lane during the morning weekday peak, between 7am and 10am.”
The spokesperson added: “There is off-street parking available. Sprint’s bus lanes, as well as priority measures at junctions, are crucial in allowing buses to bypass traffic jams, particularly at busy times, and therefore offer passengers more reliable and quicker journey times.
“They are designed to make bus a more attractive and reliable alternative to the car to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.
“TfWM has sympathy with businesses impacted by new infrastructure, and liaised with Walsall Road businesses and residents throughout the development of Sprint, and even made significant changes to the designs following consultation in 2019.”
It comes after residents of an idyllic seaside resort were devastated after it became a “ghost town” with empty bars and derelict shops.
Brean in Somerset is dominated by the giant Pontins Holiday Park, but this year thousands of holidaymakers will be missing.
For the next three years, the camp will be taken over by construction workers at the nearby Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.
Meanwhile, Ulrika Jonsson shares how she had a full on panic attack after bonkers car park rules left her feeling helpless.
Locals in Nottinghamshire are also fuming after their “amazing” town centre became a wasteland strewn with litter, pigeon waste and cracked paving.
Two villages have also been ghost towns for decades after locals were forced to flee 80 years ago.
Residents of Imber and Tyneham were ordered to evacuate in 1943 as Salisbury Plain was taken over by troops preparing for D-Day.