Residents living on a road leading to one of Nottinghamshire's busiest train stations say they "wouldn't want to live anywhere else". Last year it was found that Newark Northgate Train Station was the second busiest station in the county and the 49th most busy in Britain with 674,472 visitors between April 2021 and March 2022.
With all the commuters passing through the station it's no surprise that the roads leading towards it, Lincoln Street and Appleton Gate, can get extremely busy. It can also be difficult for residents to park outside their homes or have visitors over, due to there being a consistent line of parked cars on either side of the street.
However, despite the issues with traffic residents love living so close to the station with some saying that they "wouldn't live anywhere else." Michael James, who is 78 and retired, has lived on the road for almost 20 years and says he loves it.
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When asked if it was noisy living so close to the station, he replied: "The train station isn't an issue, especially with the new trains the Azumas, we don't hear them and I suppose it's like living next to an airport, you just get accustomed to the noise. Traffic can be a problem and people dashing if they are late for the trains, they go far too fast down here sometimes.
"I think they could do with putting a couple of speed bumps here." Michael explained that parking on the street has changed over the years, and at one point it was residents parking only throughout the week but at weekends anyone could park anywhere which was "horrendous."
He added: "A lot of families have more than one car per household. Sometimes people come home from London and can't get a space outside so I think it could be better.
"They will park and go on courses for a week or a weeks holiday. People should be able to park and see family, but not parked for a week at a time."
Due to the constant lines of cars each side of the road, Michael explained that many cars parked on the side closest to the train station have experienced damage over the yeas. He said: "There's quite a lot of vandalism with cars especially on that side as there's no houses, we've had broken windows and number plates stolen.
"There's also people that walk their dogs over there and let them foul." However, overall Michael loves his home and describes it as a great location.
He said: "I've got everything around, we've got a chip shop around each corner and used to have the bus come down here. As a street to be honest I wouldn't live anywhere else.
"When I moved down here I knocked on the neighbours door and he said that and now I feel the same. I've been really happy down here."
A 31 year old office worker who did not wish to be named also feels that the street is a convenient place to live. She said: "It's a really good location to live as we are close to the town, it's about a seven or eight minute walk to the centre."
When asked about the noise from trains and cars, she explained: "To be honest it's not that bad, and as I'm working at home I'm on the other side of the house and it's not that bad, and you do also get used to it. The trains continue until late but we're young so we don't go to sleep until 1 anyway so it's not affecting us.
The main problem is with parking as we have two cars and we have permits but if our friends are coming around, then it's really bad and they can't find places to park." Pointing to the road she explained that the part she lives on is permitted, but "the other part is free and anyone can park there" which can be problematic.
Retired, John Laing, 76, has lived on the road for 22 years and stated: "I love trains, it's one of the reasons I continue living here and if I decided to take the train it's a very short walk." When asked about the parking issue, he replied: "I'm one of the people that got the petition to get part of the street turned into a 24 hour a day residents parking over here.
"The minute it isn't residents parking we would be full of people waiting for trains and taking phone calls." Speaking about the noise John explained that "noise pollution is a big problem" but it's the cars rather than the trains.
He said: "If I'm walking up the street you can hear the train coming into the station but then a car goes by and you can't hear anything. It's not just cutting through, it's that they keep they keep their foot down."
John also explained that he doesn't drive but "it's a very good location" having the train station so close as well as all the shops and town centre, so he is "quite happy walking around." However, he has to be careful leaving his home as he gets a lot of cyclists going past his front door.
When asked if there was a sense of community on the road, he replied: "There's a little bit of a community as we did get enough people interested in the petition to get the car parking changed. I do get along with my neighbours and there's a few people up and down the street."
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