Cambuslang Community Council is urging all members of the public and the town’s business community to reply to South Lanarkshire Council’s Consultation on a new Park & Ride Strategy for Cambuslang and other towns with stations in South Lanarkshire. If Cambuslang is to get new capacity to deal with the commuter parking and free up space for shoppers, it is critical that the community lobbies South Lanarkshire Council for a new Park & Ride car park on Bridge Street – the only place near the station where there is vacant land.
These are the facts:
- Cambuslang Station is used by over 800,000 passengers a year, the 5th highest level of usage of the 19 stations in South Lanarkshire. The population of Cambuslang has grown by 30% over the 2003-2016 period, but station patronage has grown by 92%. Cambuslang’s population is projected as growing by a further 15% between 2016 and 2026, which could lead to station usage increasing to almost 1.2 million by 2026.
- Cambuslang has the poorest P&R capacity of all 19 stations in South Lanarkshire. It has only 62 P&R spaces compared to an average of 151 for all stations. The town has the worst ratio of P&R spaces to passengers in South Lanarkshire. And Cambuslang has had the fourth lowest investment by SLC in new P&R capacity over the 1994-2017 period.
- However, South Lanarkshire Council’s Park & Ride Consultation Document (PRSCD) presents a misleading picture of the occupancy of Cambuslang P&R car parks, with a figure of 26% (measured at 3pm on a Friday afternoon). The more recent P&R Study shows that all car parks in Cambuslang have an occupancy of 80-90%. The same study reveals that 200-250 commuter cars are parked in local streets every day.
- The PRSCD assessment of future demand is also misleading, underestimating the need for new P&R spaces (put at 16 new spaces by 2023). However, the P&R Study identifies an existing unmet demand of at least 250 spaces and a further 100+ new spaces by 2028.
- Despite Cambuslang having the worst P&R capacity in South Lanarkshire, SLC are proposing absolutely no investment in new P&R capacity in the short term.
- The PRSCD proposes medium-term investment of £460-500k for Cambuslang to develop P&R capacity of 152+ spaces on Bridge St. It is critical that this becomes a short-term priority.
Regeneration of Cambuslang town centre depends on new P&R capacity to free up space in car parks and streets for shoppers.
Please write to South Lanarkshire Council, either by responding to the consultation here or by emailing stuart.laird@southlanarkshire.gov.uk
You can find the arguments to make here