30 January - Give them an inch
Mr. Mustard
the esteemed parking justice campaigner
from Barnet posted this picture on X a week ago.
Like me he thinks it is a pretty stupid way to park but knows it is not actually
illegal. Parking 50 centimetres from a kerb is illegal but the rule is not
sufficiently well defined. So much so that in lazy Bexley no attempt is made to
enforce even the most blatant of offenders.
(Tape measures are too complicated.)
In the week since Mr. M. posted his picture, the same has happened outside my
house most days. Bexley Council has been pondering whether some yellow and white
paint might fix the problem but all we get is apologies for the delay in coming
to a decision. (That is not absolutely accurate, there has been no apology.)
The six photos below are in pairs. One and two taken yesterday show how the
desperation for a parking space encourages one wheel against the kerb and the
other three anywhere and who cares if the road is nearly blocked and the red car
cannot easily get out of its drive?
Photos three and four are the same but taken today.
Photo five has been
seen here before.
Bexley Council refused to give the car a ticket because eight inches across the drive
is not a lot. (But more if you include the wing mirror.)
What happens if the lesson of Photos 1 to 4 is combined with 5 and the front
wheel does not block the dropped kerb by much but the rear wheel is angled a long way
across? It would not be the first time my drive has been blocked and Bexley
Council has refused to take action. It is a registered ‘No parking’ drive too.
Photo six from two days ago was reported by a neighbour. Once again six or eight
inches across a dropped kerb. A different CEO issued a ticket.
Bexley Council should enforce the law equally and not allow CEOs to look the
other way because the law has only been a little bit broken.
