Some time ago I seem to remember that we had a discussion about charging for car parking at TNA, well hidden away in a TNA web page press release they have confirmed that the will be reducing the opening week from 6 to 5 days and introducing car parking charges for more detail go to

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/24sep09.pdf


So once again those who live outside London will be penalised for travelling down to London to view documents we have paid to store.

The CEO of the TNA once said that there were no plans to introduce car parking charges, well that did not last long.

john_g


www.66squadron.co.uk


p.s. sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I have less of an issue with the car parking charge than I do with a day less opening! I can understand the need to reduce costs, one assumes the cuts by government on spending will bite the NA as well. I can also see that they may be able to reduce staff costs by giving them the day off on the Monday. However a day less can only add to the volumes on those other days and I can not help wondering how supply of documents and seating will be effected.

Alas I guess a bit of pre planning will be required to book etc.

Regards
Arm

This is the statement about car parking charges:


"Introducing charges for the use of the public car park will allow us to cover the costs of providing onsite parking and bring us in line with the Government’s green agenda. There will still be free parking available for visitors with a disability.
The National Archives is relatively unusual in providing free onsite parking for both visitors and staff (for example there is no onsite parking for staff or readers at the British Library’s St Pancras site or the National Archives of Scotland, while our neighbour Kew Gardens charges £6 flat rate for a day’s parking)."

It's disingenuous twaddle. There is no car parking at the St Pancras site because there was no space for such a facility, and I would guess that is the same for the National Archives of Scotland. Even worse is the nonsense of "covering the costs of providing onsite parking." There are no costs at the moment except for covering the repair bill for the recently installed barriers which break down regularly and need not have been installed. They were put there to get us used to the idea of impending charges. The future costs will be to pay for the ticket machines and possibly a private parking company to run it all. The season ticket is another con. You can get a season ticket, but costs, it appears, will vary depending on the emission levels of your car, which means a multi-tier system of charging. This will, no doubt, require more administration. It's easy to see that this is purely a money making scheme cloaked in green to make it sound more worthy.


Freedom for Tooting
TR

The earlier thread:

clickety click

I thought the plan was to close to the public on Mondays to give time for housekeeping, staff training, conservation, maintenance, and similar internal activities.

Not about changes, but its possible at the moment to get a room at the Kew Bridge Travelodge for £19 for the first week of January. I have just booked in for the Friday night.

Keith

Definite bargain, Keith. I don't think I've ever paid less than around fifty quid there.

On the few occasions I have visted the archives, always driving to Kew, I have never used the NA car park, so they can charge whatever they like as far as I am concerned. Of course, if I was unable to walk I wouldn't be so happy, but then, they do say that the disabled won't be charged to park.

As for closing on a Monday, I never go on a Monday and have never seen the NA busy enough that it wouldn't accomodate many more researchers, so again, I don't see the problem. Have I just been lucky to always visit on quiet days?

Ken

Ken

I now often go in now on a weekday afternoon after visiting my elderly mother who's in a care home nearby. The document reading room is OK, which is usually the case, but the chances of even approaching a terminal in the other room is often impossible. For anyone who wants a quick look (or longer look) at service records, or 1911 census online it's often best to forget it - every terminal is permanently engaged, with many people hovering from place to place ready to pounce if one becomes free. In the week I tend to be there on Thursdays, which are busier than some other days, but goodness knows what the Monday closure will do to the 'quieter' days. Saturdays remain the best for me, as I can arrive for opening time and then lie low all day. For anyone not able to get there before mid-morning on a weekday, I foresee frustration.

Sue

Like Ken, I always drive down from the north west, staying for a couple of nights or so at the Travelodge. The NA is walkable from there - but I'm a lazy so-and-so and take the car.

I've never really understood why disabled people are asumed to be too poor to pay for parking or road tax!!

In my view it is not just the fact that that they will close for one day, but why on earth do people who live out side London and have considerable distances to travel have to be penalised to use a facility that they pay tax towards to keep running, no more or less than the locals around London.

I always aim to be at the NA when it opens so that I can make the most of my day and as I quite often go down twice a month or more I do not need extra costs. The car parking cost will be a joke, what’s the alternative? I could use my push bike, but then my journeys would all be limited to days in the summer. What roads am I expected to use from the East Midlands, the M1 would be o.k. in the light but not on a miserable winters day or the A5 which would be another poor option. And how long would it take me to pedal the 100 miles from door to door?

Go by train I hear you say. But I want to be there by 9.30. This means travelling down on a commuter train from Leicester, Nuneaton or Rugby therefore I will have to pay peak time fares, then the tube across London, and no doubt a long wait for a District line to Richmond.

This exercise is not about being eco friendly or reducing their costs it’s about screwing the majority of the English public who want to view their records. Note all the docs that are turning up on Ancestry.com, the only places where you can see them for free are your local library (mine limits use to 1/2 hour sessions) or Kew.

Bah humbug.

John_g


www.66squadron.co.uk


Just a thought, with a General election on the way, why not lobby your MP and make them earn thier keep?

Perhaps the assumption is more along the lines of the fact that disabled people may not be able to walk the extra distance that is necessary if you park a little further away than right outside the door.

For the physically mobile, is this whinge about parking fees akin to "I'm too lazy to park for free and walk a little further"?

There is an option you know. It's not compulsory to park in their car park if you drive to Kew.

The have taken to switching off a bank of computers that they installed for the 1911 census project as an "energy saving" policy. There are still terminals that are under used when I'm there, including Tuesdays & Thursdays.