8 July - A nice letter and a nice little earner
After Bexley Council at long last proposed to paint
six sets of double yellows
around corners at nearby junctions
I immediately
emailed a letter of support to the traffic department but also brought to
their attention the probable further commuter displacement to already congested roads. I didn’t
expect to get a reply but yesterday I received one which I thought was pretty
good. It clearly set out the formal position but was friendly and far from being dismissive of my suggestions.
This might not be worthy of comment except that I have previously been told “see
you in court” when I complained that Abbey Road parking bays were too narrow for my
not very big Rover 45 and I have an explanation of why yellow lines are put in
before the traffic order is signed. It is because to do it the other way around
risked losing PCN revenue. Money comes before the law.
Maybe Bexley Council really is more honest than it was 20 years ago
On
a slightly related note
the Abbey Wood CPZ proposals from last April included
getting rid of the remaining Free parking bays which at first sight is another
cash grab, but I am beginning to see the rationale.
I asked a friend who can keep a closer eye on things, to see if he could confirm
my suspicions. Let’s keep things very generalised.
If a house has two or three off street parking spaces and the resident owns two
little used cars it is possible to keep one of them more or less permanently in a nearby
Free space. Then you can rent your drive to an Elizabeth Line commuter and
shuffle one of your two cars into the Free space like a German tourist on a poolside sun lounger.
Now why didn’t I think of that first?