Reopened coach parking at the Station Road site in Matlock Bath will be free for two months from 1 April in a bid to attract operators back to the town.
It comes after the nine coach spaces there was utilised as a tolerated site for a traveller family, taking them out of use for over two years. That group has since moved on and the bays are again open to coaches.
Should the travellers return, they will be accommodated elsewhere on the plot on what is termed a “self-contained basis” without encroaching onto the coach area.
The Confederation of Passenger Transport has been involved in negotiations with Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) over a return to intended use of the coach bays in the town. Assurance has been received that they will remain available for coaches. UK Coach Manager Phil Smith advises.
From 1 June, the charge will be £6.20 per day. In a hint that DDDC is working to rebuild tourism in the town, the cost of car parking during the off-season has been reduced.
A DDDC spokesperson says: “We have been talking to coach operators to encourage them to put Matlock Bath back on their itineraries.
“Although the Station Road car park has been identified – subject to planning permission – to meet our legal obligation as one of four locations as a possible temporary off-season traveller site, the coach parking area will be protected.”
It is not known whether the traveller family involved intends to return to Matlock Bath. A DDDC representative previously told routeone that the group had moved to Ashbourne.
Although protection of the coach parking area will be welcomed, Matlock Bath Parish Council earlier raised concerns about what might happen if the travellers return and move onto the coach area regardless of permission. Health and safety concerns have also been aired should the group reappear at the Station Road site.
