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Letter 6
RE: FOOTWAY PARKING IN PLANTATION ROAD
14/05/02
Dear Linda,
Thank you for your reply dated 17/04/02, to our letter regarding parking problems in Plantation Road.
First of all we must point out that Bromley Council definitely do not enforce a footway-parking ban across the board. They may operate a footway-parking ban in some instances, or in some areas, but certainly not in all. This I know for a fact because both my girlfriend and my ex-wife live under Bromley Council and in their roads, and in fact all over that locality, vehicles do park on the footway. Vehicle owners do this because it is the obvious and sensible thing to do and if they didn't, the vehicles would be likely to cause an obstruction and would also be prone to damage. They do not cause an obstruction, there are no marked bays in the area, no one gets a parking penalty notice and everybody is happy. How simple life can be. So, in the very least Bromley Council are operating a policy of blanket exemption, or non-enforcement, for certain roads, which is what we would like for Plantation Road. We understand your dilemma with regard to providing additional bays, however, as you feel that this is not possible, is their any reason why Plantation Road cannot have blanket exemption? A situation we would find preferable and, as we have said, would absolve the council from any complications regarding additional bays.
Some of the other points you have put forward and the current stance of the local authority in this instance also raises some interesting questions in itself, which you may be able to shed some light on....
1). Who says we do not have the automatic right to park on the road?
2). Whose roads are they?
3). Who pays for the roads and their upkeep?
We would also like to add that we are very dismayed by the apparent lack of grip on reality, as well as the obvious lack of empathy with the populous, that local authorities currently seem to exhibit. It isn't so much a matter of enjoying the convenience of having a car, it is the simple fact that people cannot get by in this day and age without one. With the demands of modern life people need personal transport to conduct their business. A world where everybody is expected to use public transport can only ever exist in the dreams of the politicians and local authorities, who seem to think that using public transport is some kind of magic solution and that, if they make life difficult enough for the motorist, he or she will give up their car and get on the bus. However, there are many reasons as to why this is not possible, practical, or desirable, and so the sooner we dispel that myth and start living in the real world, and catering for it, the better. If the politicians and the local authorities had a mind to, they could make life a lot better for all concerned by accepting the fact that, in today's world (which the politicians and local authorities have created), people cannot get by, or manage effectively enough, without personal transport. And why should they have to? Would you give up your car? The people that are responsible for this situation may be lucky enough to have off road parking, they are in a well paid job, paid for by the people they are currently letting down, who perhaps aren't so lucky as the politicians and civil servants that they are forced to fund. There is nothing wrong in people having, using and parking, personal transport. Just the opposite! It is the best and most efficient way for people to operate.
It is the current management, or should we say mismanagement of society that is the problem and that is down to the government and the local authorities. Many of the problems associated with the motorcar are a direct result of actions and attitudes, taken and adopted, by the governments and local authorities and if such were not the case, personal transport in the form of the motorcar would be less of a problem than it currently appears to be. The situation can be dramatically improved by improving the efficiency of the roads and junctions, eradicating retrogressive and inefficient traffic schemes. Reducing the need to travel, by providing facilities for people where they need it, and limiting population density in any given area, making sure that any given area has the infrastructure and facilities to cater for the number of people it is expected to accommodate. Instead, what have the local authorities done? Screwed up local traffic schemes and compounded congestion problems. Shut down local facilities such as the schools and hospitals. Built another massive shopping centre when we already had Lakeside and built more housing in the area without improving the supporting infrastructure and the local facilities. It doesn't take a genius to work out that this sort of thing is going to make life a whole lot more difficult for people and make it impossible to get by without a car, as well as compound travelling and congestion problems. When my ex-wife had our daughter, I had to drive her to Gravesend in rush hour traffic. Taking her in by public transport would not have been an option and she only just made it as it was. Why am I going on a half hour car journey with a woman that's about to give birth, when previously it would have been ten minutes to West Hill? This year, fifty to sixty local children cannot get school places because, on top of a baby boom coming through the system and increasing housing density in the area, the local authority has closed not one, but two secondary schools. The result, Erith and Bexleyheath schools are stuffed full and running way over capacity and the unfortunate children that cannot get a local place have been offered schools at Sidcup and Falconwood. That could mean another fifty to sixty cars unnecessarily on the road in the morning and evening. All of these factors do not put the local authorities in good light because it is very apparent that they are the cause of a lot of the problems and as for the phrase 'convenience of having a car', it seems somewhat out of place nowadays and probably would be better suited to a time when most people were still getting around on a horse and cart.
If things are ever going to be improved we must change the way the local authorities think and operate and that's what we are aiming to try and do by highlighting some of these problems. However, if we come up against dogmatism, refusal to cooperate and give people what they want, as well as reluctance to acknowledge commonsense, there may be no hope for any of us. So, first of all, we may have to have national awareness campaign to make those in charge aware that first and foremost, this country belongs to the people that populate it. The authorities are only supposed to be there to do what we want them to do and not to do what we don't want them to do. Democracy involves listening to the people's voice and giving the people what they want, not forcing them to have what they don't want. Once we can establish these principles we may have some chance of improving things. Because, let's face it, we do not like paying people to make life difficult for us. Quite the opposite! In the mean time, for the sake of our continuing campaign for independence and commonsense in our road where we live, as well as on behalf of all other people inconvenienced and fed up with the situation, can you please provide an address for the parties directly responsible for the administration of this policy in both Bexley Borough and London as a whole so that we can write to them? That is, whoever is responsible for the decision to enforce this ban on behalf of Bexley Council, and the appropriate body that does the job that the G.L.C. used to do and would therefore be responsible for the abolishment of such a ban if we could make them aware that it is unwarranted and unwanted by the people that count. Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
D.J. Tarrant