Turn Back Time - The High Street ...See Shepton Mallet on TV tonight at 9pm, BBC1

By SheptonPeople | Tuesday, November 02, 2010, 13:21

Don’t forget to set those Sky+ boxes and PVR’s to record so you can relish in Shepton Mallet’s TV success from tonight at 9pm. The six part series will be toasted by the town in celebrations which begin at 3pm this afternoon and include late night shopping, stalls and even a hog roast. Mannequins will be dressed in period costumes to mark the ‘Victorian Event’ and people are invited to turn up in costume as well if they should choose - all of which should create an amazing atmosphere.

Shepton Mallet is 'The High Street' in BBC1's Turn Back Time

BBC’s Points West will be there covering events, underlining the fact that this is a real opportunity for Shepton Mallet to show what it has to offer.

So come on down town later today and get involved. Juliet Jawara, landlady of the Bell Inn has made an open invitation for all to go in and watch the first episode on their big screen. This really is a very exciting day to be in Shepton Mallet.

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Comments

It is a question of managing the free parking provision that already exists for the most part.

Unfortunately the police do not treat parking violations with any sort of priority, and the local authority does not have jurisdiction over on-street parking. If the free parking in the car parks, and in the high street was not abused by people parking all day, or for extended parts of the day, we would see a rapid turnover of free spaces that will allow all of those who just wish to stop and shop for a few minutes to park for free.
There is a proposal in the wings that will allow the council to take over the monitoring of on street parking and if this comes into operation we could see a rapid improvement in the situation.

I think it is dishonest to make statements supporting or promises to provide "free parking". There is no such thing as free parking, either the person parking has to pay or we all have to pay through our council taxes. Currently councils are unable to put up council tax and must at the same time make significant reductions in spending of around 25%. Making parking free to the user would put even more pressure on essential services.

The other drawback of so called free parking is that there would be no control over how long cars are parked in any particular place, making the available spaces for stop and shop use even more difficult.

The best solution is to have a well managed and affordable system, that manages the free parking provision alongside the chargeable spaces. The current situation whilst not ideal, is moving in the right direction and should the council eventually take over the on-street provision and manages that alongside the car parks, we could well find that we have a overall solution to the issue.

By johnp2010 at 15:35 on 10/11/10
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Good debate! Welcome to the site johnp2010 - I hope you find the opinions of our readership/visitors of interest.

By SheptonPeople at 15:28 on 10/11/10
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The issue, as I see it is one of convenience. I don't think anyone feels the parking provision is adequate, even if 60 sounds a lot. If I only want a sandwich and a paper, Tesco's = free parking and both are in one place. Denela's sandwiches are leagues better and better value but I can't find a free parking space so I'll go to where I can, or risk being late back to work. This scheme wont help that. On BBC Somerset a while back, an old guy in Shepton was interviewed and said that he paid more to park than he was successfully able to spend (due to one shop being closed and another not having what he was after - the scheme wouldn't help him. If all parking was made free for a significant period (long enough for people to realize and for the Town center to actually start healing) Mendip's revenue would be more than made up for and even if not, is it not worth seeing that as an investment which will bear dividends elsewhere? Shepton Mallet is now a sprawled out town with lots of people passing through it in cars and lots of people who work in it but not right in the middle. If they could stop or pop in free of charge habits may start to change and the town centre could become an exciting prospect for a new start, not to mention banishing the psychological millstone that 'our town is dead' once and for all (I don't believe it is, by the way). Just my two penneth.

By Ed_2010 at 15:02 on 10/11/10
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In response to the comments regarding parking in Shepton, I just thought that I would let you know that we will be very shortly running a trial scheme in all of Shepton's car parks which will in effect provide free parking for the majority of users.
There is already around 60 free spaces in the town, some in Great Ostry car park, with others behind the Police Station and in Regal Road. The new scheme which I hope will go live at the beginning of December will provide a refund of either the first hour in Great Ostry or Commercial Road, or the first half hour in Regal Road, provided the client presents his or her parking ticket reminder to one of the participating retailers and then spends £10 or more.

Schemes of this type work really well in many parts of the country and if this trial proves to be successful in Shepton there is a strong possibility that it will become a permanent feature here with a possible roll out across the other Mendip Car Parks across the District.

By johnp2010 at 11:15 on 09/11/10
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Parking is certainly an issue that needs re thinking badly. I found myself uttering words I didn't imagine I would last Friday, when a colleague pointed out that I could have got what I popped into Tesco's for for less money, and it would have been better quality, if I had gone to the Friday market... Because I needed to get my stuff and get back in under 30 min there was no way I could risk trying to park in three places and being unable to, and then having to walk from wherever (risking a parking ticket usually) etc etc. Tesco's was simply quicker. Mendip might say that it isn't their job to offer incentives to NOT shop in a given place, but I would think it IS their job to make it as easy and inviting to use what the rest of the town has.

By SheptonPeople at 10:52 on 08/11/10
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