Neighbours at war in Cornish town Falmouth over ‘selfish’ parking forcing ambulances to turn around

Residents of a picturesque Cornish seaside town have accused residents of leaving so little space with poor parking that an ambulance was unable to drive down a residential street and was forced to turn back.

Motorists came under fire when photos were shared on social media showing parked cars leaving small gaps blocking access for passing vehicles at Clare Terrace on the Falmouth coast in Cornwall.

A local who said he was a paramedic said they ‘couldn’t get past the inconsiderate parkers’ when they were driving down the road in their ambulance recently, forcing them to ‘back up the road and turn around and come the other way’ .

The street is a short walk from the seafront in the busy city that has seen a surge in popularity in recent years but “hasn’t left enough room for all the cars,” and residents say the problem is getting worse.

Residents of the picturesque Cornish town of Falmouth have revolted against residents who park poorly and have no space for cars and emergency vehicles to pass. In the photo:

A line of drivers setting up the pavement to park in Penryn, Cornwall (which borders Falmouth) last year

A photo of a striking parking lot at Clare Terrace shows a large pickup truck and a van parked over a pothole, leaving a small gap in the center of the mound.

But some drivers in Falmouth have complained that their cars are now more likely to be damaged if left parked on the road.

Residents of the neighboring town of Penryn have also previously complained that the streets are plagued by dangerous and inconsiderate parking.

The resident said they were paramedics and said: ‘I drove there in my ambulance a couple of weeks ago and couldn’t get past the inconsiderate parkers. I had to back up the road, turn around and go in the other way.

“If you can’t park close to the wall, with the wheels straight and the mirror folded, then don’t park, that’s my advice.”

‘This is my street and my cars have taken so much damage it’s unbelievable. The “wall” side of the road is in serious need of double yellow lines. We had a hard time getting through this morning in a Golf. In the last six months it has gotten much worse.

Falmouth resident Michael Doust, who took the footage, said he reported it to police, who told him it is not an offense or causing obstruction.

It is the job of Cornwall Council Traffic Control Officers to deal with vehicles parked on double yellow lines or not abiding by parking rules. But if the vehicle is causing a hazard or obstruction where it is, the police will help, according to the Devon and Cornwall Police website.

Falmouth resident (city file photo) Michael Doust, who took the footage, said he reported it to police, who told him it is not a crime or causing obstruction.

Cornish residents have raised concerns that their hometowns are becoming “ghost towns” amid a huge boom in the number of Airbnb holiday homes that now dominate the beautiful coastal locations of England and Wales.

The numbers revealed that the number of “entire places” for rent in coastal cities increased by 56 percent between 2019 and 2022, compared to 15 percent in non-coastal communities.

“I was there the other week delivering and it’s an absolute joke,” a Falmouth local told inconsiderate drivers.

‘Obviously they have absolutely no common sense. You see them all cry when their cars break down because of people.’

Another whistleblower said: ‘Unfortunately this is the case throughout Falmouth and Penryn. There is simply not enough space anywhere for all the cars.

‘I live on Oakfield Road [on the other side of Falmouth] and when night comes there are three to five cars, sometimes more, parked on the pavement outside my house. I have had to do this myself at times as there is nowhere to park along Oakfield and Acacia Road.

“Luckily, there’s plenty of room for buses and emergency services vehicles to pass, and another sidewalk out front that nobody can park on, thankfully. This isn’t going to get better, it’s only going to get worse.’

One baffled local said he couldn’t believe how people were parking, calling it ‘just crazy’, ‘irresponsible’ and ‘utterly selfish’.

Residents of the St Ives, Cornwall hub earlier this year attacked tourists who were turning the town into a “theme park”.

Families who have lived in the city for generations are being driven out as millionaires hoard land or houses and rent them out for up to £7,000 a week.

The rush for second homes since covid and more flexible jobs have left residents of Cornwall’s most popular towns destitute, with sky-high home values ​​excluding young people from the property market.

Around 540,000 day trippers and over 220,000 stay-over tourists visit St Ives each year, and the tourism industry accounts for around 2,800 jobs in the area – that’s almost one in four people who live there. .

But the small streets are crowded and finding a parking space can be next to impossible during the busiest periods.

Parking spaces are so precious in Cornwall that a village was overrun with tourist vehicles last year after holiday companies advertised it as “all free parking”.

Flushing residents said last year they couldn’t park anywhere after tourists began using their house for parking.

They said tourists were being directed there and traveling to nearby resorts where parking can be expensive.