If you have read the previous entries on this blog, you may well wonder why a park and ride is necessary as it seems like a lot of hard work for something that rarely breaks even let alone makes a profit! I shall try to explain its history below:
The road that leads to the valley is a single track road with steep banks on both sides, no passing spaces and no where to park. The valley is home to several farms, houses and businesses, and before the park and ride scheme started these locals were often unable to carry out their normal daily routines as queues of cars blocked the road and the stench of burnt out clutches filled the air. Some visitors would park where ever they could blocking in residents or damaging the few verges along the road - many of which were home to snowdrops that got squashed in the process. Exmoor National Park Authority decided to run a park and ride scheme from Wheddon Cross to make sure that visitors could still see the snowdrops whilst residents were able to live as usual in the valley.
There is of course a conflict in running such a scheme - in order to let people know when the scheme is running, it has to be advertised which therefore encourages more people to come. On the plus side a huge majority of visitors to Wheddon Cross in February spend money in the pub, tea room, Snowdrop Cafe, accommodation providers, village shop and garage and also in businesses in adjoining villages during a traditionally quiet time of year. The only threat to the scheme is that of finances. If it continues to run at a loss the Parish Council may not be able to continue propping it up. Let's hope that we have a snow-free February in 2011 and that our visitors are generous!!
The road that leads to the valley is a single track road with steep banks on both sides, no passing spaces and no where to park. The valley is home to several farms, houses and businesses, and before the park and ride scheme started these locals were often unable to carry out their normal daily routines as queues of cars blocked the road and the stench of burnt out clutches filled the air. Some visitors would park where ever they could blocking in residents or damaging the few verges along the road - many of which were home to snowdrops that got squashed in the process. Exmoor National Park Authority decided to run a park and ride scheme from Wheddon Cross to make sure that visitors could still see the snowdrops whilst residents were able to live as usual in the valley.
There is of course a conflict in running such a scheme - in order to let people know when the scheme is running, it has to be advertised which therefore encourages more people to come. On the plus side a huge majority of visitors to Wheddon Cross in February spend money in the pub, tea room, Snowdrop Cafe, accommodation providers, village shop and garage and also in businesses in adjoining villages during a traditionally quiet time of year. The only threat to the scheme is that of finances. If it continues to run at a loss the Parish Council may not be able to continue propping it up. Let's hope that we have a snow-free February in 2011 and that our visitors are generous!!
