Broads Country Park road to be improved
Whitlingham Country Park road to be improved
A road riddled with pot holes which cuts through the centre of Whitlingham Country Park is closing to motorists on Monday October 5th to be improved as the final stage in the development of the park.
The eastern end of Whitlingham Lane, between the flint barn visitor centre and cottages at the Kirby Bedon end of the park, is to be widened to just over four metres and resurfaced. It will have speed bumps added and carry a 20mph speed limit.
When it reopens in six to eight weeks the road will be adopted by Norfolk County Council and will carry a clearway order forbidding parking on the verge. Norfolk Constabulary will enforce the ban with £30 parking fines to keep the roadside clear.
Russell Wilson, Park Manager, said: “Parking on the road has been a big problem for the country park. Cars have destroyed grass verges and damaged tree roots. They cause an obstruction for the emergency services, for residents who live at the end of the park and for access to the Whitlingham Woods car park.”
Mr Wilson said staff had distributed over 450 leaflets to car drivers asking them not to park on the road since April.
Resident John Pointer welcomed the clearway move, saying the roadside parking was “an accident waiting to happen.”
“We see mothers trying to cope with a dog with one hand while putting children in buggies at the roadside with the other. It’s crazy when they could be safely parked in a car park.
“We avoid going out at weekends as it’s so difficult to get out, especially if you meet another car. The problem has been building up over the last three years as the country park has become more popular.”
Poringland Police Sergeant Mark Aldis said: “We are working in close partnership with Whitlingham Country Park in relation to the new ‘clearway’. It will improve safety to road users and encourage vehicles to park in the allocated pay and display car parks, which will enhance crime reduction in the park.”
Whitlingham Country Park, which has two broads, woodland and meadows, attracted a record 750,000 people this year, while visitors to the Broads Information Centre and café in the flint barn has increased three fold to 200,000 in three years.
The park has four public car parks which will take 1,000 cars, and a fifth is soon to be added. Money taken from the pay and display parking is ploughed back into the maintenance of the park, which is run by a charity, The Whitlingham Charitable Trust, in partnership with the Broads Authority.
Whitlingham Country Park will remain open during the road improvements and the café will be open during the winter from 11am -4pm.
02/10/09
