Friday 12 December 2008

More Parking Problems.

Residents of Davies Close are finding it increasingly difficult to park near their houses when returning from work in the afternoons and are having to add to the existing parking problems in Wyndham Road. It is alleged that residents of Parsonage Lane are parking in Davies Close adding to the problems caused by the Polish residents of the Close who seem to have four cars connected to their one address.

There is no easy answer to these problems but it would be interesting to hear if the parish council is developing a strategy to deal with the increasing problems caused by street parking.

1 comment:

babyblox said...

What do you suggest the PC can do about the parking issue? There are simply more cars in the village than there are parking spaces, especially in the evenings and at weekends. Creating residents' parking bays would not work because there is no means of policing them, and yellow lines are simply ignored. Since the recent change in the law, the police have washed their hands of the matter and the Community Enforcement Officers work only from 9 to 5. One resident wrote to the PC a couple of years ago complaining that her family could not park their four cars in the road immediately outside their house and demanded to know what the PC intended to do about it. This was a perfect illustration of the issue - there simply isn't the space for families with several cars to all park outside their houses. Although many think it does, buying or renting a house does not entitle anyone to the roadside in front. There is, of course, the village car park which is often half empty. But residents don't seem prepared to park there and walk to their home. Some seem happier to squabble with their neighbours than use this simple expedient. Another solution would be to lease a nearby field and turn it into a communal car park for the whole village, but how many would use it if it involved walking a few hundred yards? And any cost would have to be met by rate-payers. The Devon Car-Share scheme exists to try to cut the number of cars. How many use that? Public transport to and from the village has been improved but the PC cannot compel residents use it, nor can they prevent people acquiring ever more cars. There will be a major initiative early in the New Year looking to address a large number of local issues, including parking, but there's no simple solution. You cannot squeeze a quart into a pint pot. Sensible suggestions would be most welcome.