Coach operators that have not already signed a petition to restore coach parking in Matlock Bath should do so quickly ahead of a decision that will affect its medium-term future, trade body RHA has urged.
The coach bays at Station Road car park are currently part of an area there being used as a “tolerated” site by Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) for a traveller family while work is undertaken to find a temporary pitch for that group.
Among potential locations for that is the coach area at Station Road. If adopted, it would see those spaces out of their intended use for a further period.
Matlock Bath Parish Council has mounted a campaign to have the coach parking area returned to its intended use, including via the petition in question.
The Parish Council says that coach travel to Matlock Bath “should be promoted by local authorities, not blocked.” It believes that further change of use to the parking bays to house the traveller family would continue to impact the village’s prosperity.
RHA has been told that a decision on the temporary site(s) will be made by DDDC at a meeting during week commencing 9 December. Operations Manager – Coach Sector Andy Warrender adds that the Parish Council petition will be presented to councillors at or ahead of that gathering.
“We are asked by the Parish Council to support a final push to gather as many signatures as possible,” he says, noting that RHA is calling upon the wider coach community to offer its support.
Doing so would make “a very bold statement that the [coach] industry will not take further erosion of facilities lightly.”
Sign the petition here.
