Coach operators visiting Matlock Bath should be wary of their drivers parking close to the currently out of use coach spaces on the Station Yard car park after one received a penalty charge notice (PCN) for doing so.
The coach area at Station Yard is described by Derbyshire Dales District Council (DDDC) as presently being used as “a tolerated site” for a Traveller family to which DDDC “owes a legal obligation.” The local authority has previously taken eviction action against other parties that are not authorised to use the space on the same basis.
DDDC’s website still advises that pay-and-display coach parking is available at Station Yard. An operator from the South of England attempted to use it over the weekend of 18-19 May but was unable to. The driver had already paid before discovering the coach area occupied. They parked nearby on the site and were issued with a PCN.
The operator says that without access to the parking area in question there is nowhere else practical for coaches to use in Matlock Bath. They add that the town “has always been very good for coaches” and note that the current situation represents further erosion of parking facilities in popular attractions for group tours.
No acknowledgement of or response to questions about the future of the coach park in Matlock Bath has been received from DDDC.
In a Chairman’s Annual Report presented to Matlock Bath Parish Council recently, Cllr Peter Baranek acknowledges the presence of Travellers in the town’s coach parking area “for over a year now” and that visitors and in turn local businesses are affected by the inability to use that area for its intended purpose.
“The Parish Council will continue to do whatever it can to resolve the situation as quickly as possible,” adds Cllr Baranek. “Without everyone working together to put pressure on DDDC, the can will continue to be kicked down this very long road.”
Papers on the DDDC website suggest that a permanent site for the Travellers currently occupying the coach park is sought, although no hint has been given when the latter area will fully return to its intended use.
The operator in receipt of a PCN there has questioned why tickets for coach parking are still being sold. While the penalty charge is £25, they say that an appeal has been submitted “on principle.”
