Uodate on the closure of Hopes estate car park, Lammermuirs

[dickens96]

Further to previous posts on this the Estate have now published the following on their Facebook page:

Thank you for your patience ... The Hopes Car Park will be opening for permit holders ‪only from Tuesday 13th‬ ‪April‬.

Permits will be available from Hoggs Newsagents in Gifford from this date. They will cost £5 and be valid for 30 days from the date of purchase. Your vehicle registration number will be entered onto the Permit. The Permit is only valid for that vehicle. The Terms and Conditions for use are printed on the back of the Permit and summarised below.
As previously mentioned all money made from the permits will go to local charities.

The Hopes car park is private property and is only available to those who have purchased a valid car park permit.

The Hopes Car Park is monitored by CCTV.

Open: ‪9.00 am–6.00 pm on Sunday‬, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursdays only.

Closed: Friday, Saturday & Mondays. The gates will be locked during closed periods.

You must display your valid permit, or your vehicle will be reported to the Police.

The car park is used at the vehicle owner’s risk. The Hopes Estate accept no responsibility for any damage whilst on The Hopes Estate.

Walkers are welcome at The Hopes but are reminded that it is a working farm

This is very disappointing as no mention was made in the original notification that there would be such restricted access times. Issues include:

Closure after 6 prevents people who work having easy access to the area in the evenings
Closure on Saturdays has the same effect
It is private land so the Police have no right to take any action against people parking there without a permit unless they are causing criminal damage - its a civil issue

I've raised the issue with the East Lothian Access Officer - the comments on the estate Facebook post are overhwelmingly against what is being proposed.

[denfinella]

That sounds like bad news for walkers - I hope the estate reconsiders the arrangements. Having to go into a shop just to get access to a car park also isn't ideal at a time when we're supposed to be socially distancing.

It also sounds like you aren't guaranteed a space in the car park even if you buy a permit - unless they only sell the same number of permits as the number of spaces (which would be a massive waste since the permits are valid for a month, and no-one would use them every day).

I've also heard there have been some access issues around Yester House (east of Gifford) over recent years. Seems to be a problematic area re. access rights.