I'm writing with concern about plans to change the parking in Southend. I live in Kent but am an annual pass holder at Adventure Island so visit quite regularly.
On most occasions we have visited, especially in the summer we have found traffic into town slow and the parking around the seafront awful - sometimes taking at least 45 minutes to find a space and almost getting in a fight on one occasion. Every time we visit it is the thing that mars my anticipation of arriving, travelling that far with 2 young children and not knowing how long we will be driving round to find a space.
Due to this I have researched travelling to Southend by public transport, but this would take me even longer than the journey time and at least some of the parking time and cost a lot more, plus would mean having to walk further from the station or getting another bus with 2 kids, so driving is still our best option.
I'm concerned that the SCAAP seems to be reducing the amount of parking available for getting easily to the Seafront.
I don't know Southend well and so could not easily interpret the map. I wonder if you could allay my concerns and explain how it is you intend to "Maintain parking capacity* within Southend Central Area at a level that supports vitality and viability and does not undermine the Central Area's ability to accommodate visitor trips, whilst enabling the delivery of relevant opportunity sites and Ensure that there is no net loss in car parking to the south of the Southend Central Area;" and if the plan goes ahead let me know where I should park!
I couldn't find an obvious place to respond to the consultation and hope this will be taken as a response in the open period.