Parking restrictions in car park behind Village Hall – 9th March 2023

Car Park behind Village Hall – Traffic Regulation Order

Important Update

Many of you will have seen the installation of electrical vehicle charging points within the car park to the rear of the Village Hall.  This installation has been organised by Central Bedfordshire Council who own the car park using funds from Central Government who are committed to the roll out of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in preparation for the end of sales of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.

As part of funding restrictions imposed by Central Government the installed electrical vehicle charging points must be subject to a Traffic Order Regulation (TRO).  Central Bedfordshire Council consulted on the proposed TRO and held an extra-ordinary meeting of their Traffic Management Committee on 28^th February to discuss feedback from the consultation and decide on the proposed TRO.  For clarity both the Parish Council and Gravenhurst Village Hall Committee were against the proposed TRO that sought to restrict parking in 8 of the 17 car parking spaces in the car park to charging electric vehicles only.  After representations made the committee agreed the following:

• The Traffic Regulation Order will include the Village Hall car park.
• 4 of the 8 charging bays will be restricted to electric vehicles only. From 9am to 6pm an electric vehicle can only park in these 4 bays for a maximum of 6 hours when charging. Outside of this time they need to be plugged in but there is no time limit.
• The other 4 charging bays can be parked in at any time by normal cars (although this may change in the future if the facility is required).
• CBC will be monitoring usage of the bays and will provide the Parish Council with regular updates.
• Appropriate signage will be erected by Central Bedfordshire Council.

The Parish Council and the Gravenhurst Village Hall Committee hope that residents and visitors to the car park realise / understand the restrictions to avoid receiving any fines / penalty notices.

The CBC Traffic Management Committee meeting can be viewed online here: https://centralbedfordshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/755052