10 May (Part 2) - It pays to be vague
I hate it when Bexley’s parking instructions are not clear
and they seem to make a habit of it.
Three years after its installation
the trap in Abbey Road, not far from Abbey Wood station, still rakes the money in.
It’s just going up another 10% to £4.20 for two hours.
There is absolutely nothing to say that you can only pay to park at the two
extremities of a 120 metre long bay; the middle section is reserved for permit holders.
There is a faded white demarcation line but its significance goes totally
unmentioned and in any case a permit holder may legally park on top of it and
obscure it totally. But it’s a nice little earner so Bexley has done nothing to remedy the situation.
When I go on my
weekend Crossrail photographic outings I very often take the car
and park where shown in the picture. I’d normally walk but four or more trips in a day can wear my
poor little legs out and it’s handy to have the car for when railway activity is
visible well to the west of the station.
The bay is long enough for three cars only if they are all small ones and even
then it is very often filled by only two due to careless positioning. Not that
Bexley Council helps the situation with a marked bay that extends over someone’s
dropped kerb. A nice opportunity for an officious traffic warden to earn his
incentive bonus.
From tomorrow the bay is going to be shut for a week, but only two thirds of it.
The notice says “Parking suspension 2 bays closest to No. 11 Fendyke Road”. I
suppose that once there is a hole in the ground it will be obvious which end is
closest to No. 11 without going on a short hike but how long is one bay and how will an early morning motorist
in a large vehicle know if he is backed over the imaginary line that marks the middle bay?
When there is a risk of a £60 fine it would be nice if Bexley could be a little
bit more precise with their instructions. How much is a parking fine these days,
Bexley’s website doesn't seem to say?