A cross authority think-tank has been successful in fast-tracking a planning application to redevelop the former Darlaston Inn as an innovative FREE parking solution for Stone.
Park and Wave (PaW) will run a 15-minute shuttle boat service on the River Trent from the Darlaston Inn site to a newly constructed jetty at Stone’s Crown Meadow.
After a failed application for a drive-through takeaway and petrol station, the new £5.3m scheme will see the Darlaston site developed to provide 108 free parking spaces including ten disabled and fifteen electric car spaces.
Since the closure of Crown Wharf and the potential closure of the Northesk Street car parks, free parking for workers and visitors has become a key issue in Stone.
The new FREE service hopes to launch on the 1st October 2019, and will offer the opportunity for business sponsorship of the two terminals, as well as the four boats that they run.
The boats will be the Croatian built iCat, which are intended primarily for navigation in protected waters and feature a 7,5 kW solar power plant integrated into the boat roof, enough power to provide eight hours of sailing with up to 54 passengers.
Dr Bob Frapples, a council development spokesperson exclusively told A Little Bit of Stone:
“We are delighted to be able to bring the PaW service to Stone having seen how successful it is in Dubai
“Stone workers and visitors have been crying out for something like this, and we hope that it will put these forward-thinking parking solutions on the map.”
Complementing the service will be an electric scooter service with pickup and drop off points at Crown Meadow and Market Square. This linkup will allow for sub-five-minute commutes into the heart of Stone.
The scooters will be available for a £5 per month fee with users being able to pick up and drop off at the dedicated scooter parks.
Town Centre worker April told us:
“I’m a massive watersports fan and being able to utilise the River Trent to get to work is going to be brilliant!
“Other town workers would be Fools not to take up this scheme if they are based in the town centre and I’ve already been telling my friends and colleagues about it. “
As local champions, A Little Bit of Stone has been chosen to run a competition to name the service. So that’s where you come in, please comment with your suggestions on what the service should be called, and we’ll put forward the winner.
2 comments
April and Bob
I think one of Elong Musk’s commuter tunnels would be a better idea.
David Hodgfkiss
Brilliant idea, but even better to use hovercraft – especially those built only on 1st April.