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News and Comment August 2023

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24 August (Part 2) - Next steps

Welcome though it is to see Richard Diment sign off the Carrill Way yellow line order it will do nothing, as his Merry Men accept, to tackle the congestion that inconsiderate commuter parking causes. Instead it will displace the corner parkers into an ever decreasing number of spaces.

The Council Officers’ comments on the recent consultation are not exactly reassuring. They appear not to fully understand the problems and they are too ready to pass responsibility to the police. Police who I know from recent experience deny that road blocking is anything to do with them. Is there anything left in British public life that still works?

It is not unreasonable to wait to see the effect of the new yellow lines but residents should prepare for Phase II of their campaign.

Herewith the opening shot commenting on what Bexley Council is currently saying.


• There is no evidence that changes to the existing Abbey Wood CPZ will cause displacement to the Carrill Way area. (Maybe not but it is going to go somewhere close by.)
• The Waste Team has not complained regarding access issues but it is not refuted. (I should hope not. I submitted photographic evidence of it and a neighbour who drives a Range Rover told me only yesterday that she often has to use the footpath to get it back home.)
• The suggestion that existing parking bays should be marked to reduce the chances of road obstruction is dismissed as being unenforceable. “Drivers could ignore the markings and park how they would like.” (One must wonder why all the surrounding roads have marked bays.)
• If end on parking causes an obstruction it is a Police matter. (Agreed but enforcing marked bays would go a long way towards it not happening.
• ‘Free’ marked bays might put an end to the practice but the Council is looking at ways to remove all ‘Free’ parking. (Why are we not surprised?)
• A plea for a full blown CPZ that will cost residents a lot of money was not met with a lot of Council enthusiasm. (I know who put in that suggestion. It came from a household which got rid of its car for Green reasons.)
• One of the nine respondents complained that his “several complaints” about Bexley Council relying on the Felixstowe Road car park “when a car park in Greenwich has got nothing to do with Bexley” were all ignored. (Everyone dealing with members of the public has to accept that their ignorance is often beyond belief. The Felixstowe Road car park is firmly within the borough of Bexley.)
• The inability of emergency vehicles to gain access is dismissed as “rare” and there should be only a “minimum of delay”. (Reassuring to all cardiac arrest victims I am sure.)
• Someone living a long way from Carrill Way complained that he did not get a letter to advise him of the proposals. (Bexley Council went further than legally required to do.)
• Someone who must have given the range of possible solutions very little thought, wanted yellow lines everywhere to which the response was this “can be considered” in future. (Totally unnecessary and unwanted.)


Personally I think the responses are a bit of a mixed bag ranging from the idiotic, marked bays are unenforceable, to the welcome lack of enthusiasm for CPZs. I shall have to keep faith in the new Cabinet Member for Places being a lot more sensible than his predecessor.

 

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