7 March (Part 1) - Honey trap?
It’s
probably a nice little earner for Bexley council but they really ought to sort
this parking space out. It has been like it longer that the Conservatives have
been entirely in charge in (i.e. almost totally neglecting) Lesnes ward and it was mentioned here
as long ago as September 2011.
In 2009 Peter Craske and co. made a number of alterations in Abbey Road,
Belvedere and promised residents that they would not lose any parking spaces.
This proved difficult to achieve because the much narrower road gave buses a
problem squeezing between the old parking bays and the re-sited central
reservation. So Bexley council took the easy but stupid way out. They reduced
the number of residents parking bays by one but never got around to extending
the yellow lines. The result was one car length entirely free of of any
restrictions and they kept their promise on bay numbers. I believe there are only three free
bays our side of the Greenwich boundary, and nearer to Abbey Wood station - and
they are pretty much permanently occupied by residents. So the bay shown is
unsurprisingly popular.
Personally I’d avoid it as it almost invites a lorry or bus to swipe a car’s
rear end but commuters in a hurry are not always the most careful of parkers -
and there is nothing illegal about stopping there. However some of NSL’s Bexley
Civil Enforcement Officers are even sillier than a commuter in a hurry.
I’d love to know what this one wrote in his notebook and which lines and signs
he photographed to prove his case. Maybe he just took photos a few feet further
along the road where parking restrictions do apply. We know how
they can falsify the evidence.