Parking headache for Falmouth cancer charity

12:30pm Tuesday 1st January 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Greg Fountain, Reporter/Photographer

Pants Matters charity founder Jeannette Preston stands with a protest placard outside her store at Ponsharden. Pants Matters charity founder Jeannette Preston stands with a protest placard outside her store at Ponsharden.

A Falmouth charity founder is taking a stand against what she calls the “bullying tactics” of a local supermarket.

Jeannette Preston, from Pants Matters cancer charity, is fed up with the state of parking outside her furniture, clothing and bric-a-brac outlet at Ponsharden.

She claims that staff at the neighbouring Sainsbury’s are blocking access to her store by filling up all the surrounding parking spaces and parking on the approach road.

“It becomes an issue every Christmas and every Easter,” she said.

“We pay nearly £2,000 to rent three units, which is an awful lot of money, and we have allocated spaces as a result. 

"Sainsbury’s encourages its staff to park at the entrance to our great hub opposite them so it can free up car parking for customers and it does not care that we are losing money,” she added.

Jeanette says she has been offered the services of a barrister who will act for her “if necessary,” but “so far I have declined the kind offer,” she said – although her “patience is running out.”

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told the Packet that the company “always aims to be a good neighbour” and would be “happy to meet with other tenants to discuss their concerns and to come to an agreement about what to do over this busy period.”

“We have a small car park at our Ponsharden store and, to meet the bigger demand we receive from customers over Christmas, for the past few years colleagues who work at the store been able to park in all the spaces available,” he added.

Building work on a new Sainsbury’s superstore, which will be located on waste ground near the current site of the Vospers garage, is expected to start in 2013.

Comments(12)

meerkats says...
3:45pm Tue 1 Jan 13

how unfair and thoughtless of Sainsbury,s to allow this. It is pure greed on their part and they are thinking of their profits, unlike the charity shop who deserve to make money for a very worthy cause. Perhaps a donation from Sainsbury,s in the new year would be a welcomed gesture.

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meerkats says...
7:46pm Tue 1 Jan 13

welcome not welcomed

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cornish pixie says...
8:30am Wed 2 Jan 13

yes the parking is bad there at christmas but then so is asda or any other supermarket at this busy time of year! surely the owner of the charity shop understands this afterall its not like it is happening all year round! sounds like a bit of "bah humbug" to me!

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
5:38pm Wed 2 Jan 13

If the charity shop has allocated parking spaces as stated in the article then Sainsbury's has no right suggesting that their staff park there to free up their spaces for customers. On a private housing estate you wouldn't park in someone else's allocated parking spaces unless you had an attitude problem.
I personally would contact the head office in London and explain the situation. I have always in the past found the head office very obliging.

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cornish pixie says...
8:42am Thu 3 Jan 13

the charity shop has allocated spaces within the unit! staff are asked not to park close to the store so more room for the CHRISTMAS busy period!!hence why they park on the hill not the actual units!! i know this as i asked my friend who works there!! like i said everywhere has to give and take at certain times of year!

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Gill Zella Martin 09 says...
11:32am Thu 3 Jan 13

Strange then that she has been offered the services of a barrister.
Yes everyone has to give and take, as long as it is give and take and not all take for profit for a chain store at the loss of revenue for a charity shop.

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meerkats says...
12:19pm Thu 3 Jan 13

The Barrister obviously thinks she would have a case else they would not have offered their services. There has to be give and take but Sainsburys are doing all the taking.

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juwhite says...
1:31pm Thu 3 Jan 13

I would say that there does seem to be a case here and there is not room on the hill for all the staff to park. The fact is the car park for the store is very badly thought out and is small it does seem much smaller than when the other shop was there. Yes it happens at all supermarkets but other supermarkets do not seem to be affecting other businesses. Given the amount of cars in this area at Christmas I would suggest that maybe some people did abuse the parking which is why the barrister is offering a free service. Maybe if Sainsburys think there is a problem with parking then they could ask if they could utilise space in the park and ride area where there are spaces in North Parde during winter. Many people have to park away from their work place and walk to work on a daily basis so a little inconvenience for staff at busy times is not much to ask is it?

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Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe says...
4:23pm Thu 3 Jan 13

I saw a little sign for the bizarrely named PANTS the other day as I was driving past with the F-S clan: I remember exclaiming to anyone who cared to listen (i.e. no one, as the kids were glued to their mobiles, while the wife tends to consider herself above such trivial conversations) "PANTS: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
Well at least this story in a teacup has served one useful purpose then as it has answered that question for me!

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meerkats says...
4:28pm Thu 3 Jan 13

Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe wrote:
I saw a little sign for the bizarrely named PANTS the other day as I was driving past with the F-S clan: I remember exclaiming to anyone who cared to listen (i.e. no one, as the kids were glued to their mobiles, while the wife tends to consider herself above such trivial conversations) "PANTS: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
Well at least this story in a teacup has served one useful purpose then as it has answered that question for me!
Tis an odd name. Happy New Year to you.

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Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe says...
4:37pm Thu 3 Jan 13

And all the complements of the season to you Meerkats and to the other regular contributors with whom I have enjoyed lively and informative debate on these pages in 2012: here's to a year of local stories and issues that hopefully won't be "complete pants", if you'll pardon the phrase.

By the way, do they really accept secondhand pants? I don't know who'd want to end up wearing my cast-off undergarments... Is there any place on earth that impoverished?

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molesworth says...
6:40pm Thu 3 Jan 13

I for one will never wear someone's cast off pants. Most unsavoury even if it is for charity.

Happy New Year to all the website commentators who amuse, annoy and sometimes speak common sense!

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