14 July (Part 2) - CPZ consultation confusion
As
the postman handed me two white envelopes yesterday I joked that they were going
straight into recycling unopened; for that is what usually happens to mail that
arrives here addressed only to The Occupier.
But for some reason I opened a totally anonymous envelope which someone
thought was worth the 80 pence postage. It was from Bexley Council. Was it really
sensible to have no marking whatsoever on the envelope?
The letter initially made me think that it was a consultation about a
Controlled Parking Zone but then I wasn’t so sure.
Nowhere did it refer to a new or extended CPZ and instead made a
big feature of the existing Abbey Wood CPZ. Why was Bexley Council asking for my opinion on
a CPZ they consulted on last year?
I eventually concluded that wasn’t their intention but were instead asking residents
about a new one. Why did no one think to include the word New or Proposed in their Subject line?
Assuming that is what they have in mind, Bexley Council is planning a large CPZ which
extends along Abbey Road from Carrill Way to St. Augustine’s Road and up the hill to the Splash Park. If you follow
the Council’s provided link
you will find that three more CPZs are proposed. Around Belvedere Station, Slade
Green station and in West Heath, the area nearest to the top of Knee Hill. That is one hell of a big
cash grab to be imposed on residents.
I have no idea how my neighbours will react and I could selfishly say that I
am not affected with a drive big enough for five or six cars but that is not
the whole story.
The documentation refers to residents bays being sometimes marked and
sometimes not. I think that will be the make or break point for me.
I am regularly inconvenienced by the lack of marked bays as the accompanying
photos taken last week will illustrate. According to Bexley Council a tyre
on a kerbstone is blocking the footpath and illegal but blocking it completely is not.
I am likely to vote in favour of anything that aims to fix that.
One must wonder what will happen to the severe traffic congestion in the area if
people are unable to park even a mile from the station. Will there be even more
spouses dropping off passengers in Gayton Road and on the flyover? It can quite
literally take 20 minutes to drive from the foot of New Road to the Felixstowe
Road car park and CPZs will do nothing to alleviate that.
The blue line shows the area of the proposed new Abbey Wood CPZ. A pity that Bexley Council didn’t think it was worth mentioning in the Key but explained what the red line is, causing yet more confusion.