[David9694]

A new catch-all Tea Shop thread for those miscellaneous new stories that don’t quite fit with parking, crashing into buildings or trapped/prisoners in their homes. 

Topic

[David9694]

Copford residents upset as

Copford residents upset as new traffic lights go up

https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/25002681.copford-residents-upset-new-traffic-lights-go/

Calls for free parking in Worthing as shops could close

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/25003003.calls-free-parking-worthing-shops-close/

It does seem like there’s an awful lot of big scale work at the moment on pipes and conduits – it would interesting to know there’s really more than usual or it’s just a perception.

I have a couple of theories – one is that traditional SALT arrangements are no longer deemed H&S safe, so more operators are going for complete closures – a driver own goal there – and that as the roads get more like Heathrow i.e. run at full capacity the whole time, the volume of the whingeing increases. I think the practice of laying pipes under roads seems pretty quaint by today’s standards, sadly.  

I guess the Worthing BID manager would prefer clear roads leading to free parking.   Will someone please think of the high-rolling shoppers who can’t afford parking fees and of course the drivers who are perfectly safe and competent,  but are defeated by an app. 

I’d highlight to her the curious case of Wellingborough, Northants, that well-known retail boom town of the past 50 years, the biggest place I know of offering as it does, free town centre parking.  For sure, it’s had a lot of life-blood sucked out of it down the years by the rapid collapse of the UK boot & shoe industry, the rise of Central Milton Keynes (I’m old enough to remember free parking there) 15 miles away and more recently, Rushden Lakes, 10 minutes down the A45. 

The curious thing about the English seaside is that its decline exactly matches the rise of mass motoring – perhaps another co-incidence. 

[David9694]

induced demand doing its

induced demand doing its thing, I guess

Car park visits down by more than 30,000 after fee hikes in Herne Bay and Whitstable – but Canterbury City Council rakes in extra £2.1m

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/herne-bay/news/coastal-car-park-visits-down-by-30-000-after-eye-watering-321294/

Town centre car park a ‘ghost town’ after free parking axed

Controversial parking charges locals warned would ‘kill the town’ have just gone live

Emissions-based parking has been the case in council car parks in Bath since September 2023 to tackle the city’s air quality problem. But rolling it out to the Somer Valley towns, where locals say there is not an air quality issue and they have to use cars to get around, has been highly controversial. 

https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/town-centre-car-park-ghost-10016612?int_source=nba

[mdavidford]

Doesn’t appear to be anything

Doesn’t appear to be anything to do with money in this case – rather it’s a legal dodge. From what I can understand, the government, in it’s wisdom, has told councils in England that it’s not lawful for them use ANPR to enforce parking charges. This is an attempt to say “It’s not the council wot’s doing it – it’s this private company (which just happens to be owned by the council).”

[David9694]

🔁But the traffic’s bad, ➡️But

🔁But the traffic’s bad, ➡️But the parking’s  expensive ↩️

Calls to end high parking charges in Hereford city centre

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/25000783.calls-end-high-parking-charges-hereford-city-centre/

[ROOTminus1]

That’s a complicated one, the

That’s a complicated one, the bridge would be easily and cost effectively maintained by joint Plymouth City and Cornwall County Councils’ contributions. 
However the toll mostly furnishes the wages of the toll booth operators, is paying for the swanky new office building for the Tamar Crossings company, and heavily subsidises the upkeep of the Torpoint Ferry. 
Additionally, traffic backing up at peak times to stop for the toll booths can reach the point of making walking and cycling around Saltash more hazardous than if the tolls were removed.

It was a ‘major’ infrastructure upgrade within the last 5 years to allow card payments

David9694 wrote:

​“They are being leased to Cormac, which is owned by Cornwall Council.

https://www.cornish-times.co.uk/news/prominent-councillor-denies-cornwall-council-car-parks-are-being-sold-off-754576

Cornwall Council could definitely afford to take on upkeep of the bridge with tax avoidance evasion minimisation schemes like this

[mdavidford]

Makes sense – I mean Cormac’s

Makes sense – I mean Cormac’s also responsible for The Road, right?

[brooksby]

David9694 wrote:

Prominent councillor denies Cornwall Council car parks are being sold off

He has several red lines if he is to support the plans, which include keeping free winter parking

Cllr Monk, the Cornwall councillor for Newquay Trenance said: “The carparks are not being sold off.

“That’s been made clear from the start. Anyone saying they are is misleading the public.

“They are being leased to Cormac, which is owned by Cornwall Council.

https://www.cornish-times.co.uk/news/prominent-councillor-denies-cornwall-council-car-parks-are-being-sold-off-754576

Ah, so its a “tax efficiency measure“™ 

[David9694]

Prominent councillor denies

Prominent councillor denies Cornwall Council car parks are being sold off

He has several red lines if he is to support the plans, which include keeping free winter parking

Cllr Monk, the Cornwall councillor for Newquay Trenance said: “The carparks are not being sold off.

“That’s been made clear from the start. Anyone saying they are is misleading the public.

“They are being leased to Cormac, which is owned by Cornwall Council.

https://www.cornish-times.co.uk/news/prominent-councillor-denies-cornwall-council-car-parks-are-being-sold-off-754576

[David9694]

I drive a car – give me free

I drive a car – give me free stuff 

Tamar Bridge tolls to rise but locals think ‘there should be no charge’

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/news-opinion/tamar-bridge-tolls-rise-locals-10005798?int_source=nba

Pictured : bridge and drivers’ salty tears

[brooksby]

David9694 wrote:

SaveTheWail wrote:

‘A group of parents have said their children’s school run is becoming increasingly dangerous because of a “nightmare” zebra crossing.’  It’s the zebra crossing’s fault.  Plenty of self-driving vehicles involved, too.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gm7ymd2njo

“The council no longer provides school crossing patrol cover at Broom Lane and parent Kay Simkin said this was because a lollipop lady had resigned following abusive behaviour by drivers.”

So many motorists don’t observe zebra crossings.

There’s one near my home, on the long straight (ish) road through the village (20mph speed limit, nominally), and drivers very rarely take care around it.

I got abuse shouted at me a week or so ago, because I had quickly looked over my shoulder, seen a car approaching but still some distance away, and stepped out.  The driver SCREECHED his car to a halt and started screaming at me that I was supposed to stop and make sure he had stopped before stepping out “because I might have killed you!”.

I think he missed that he was basically admitting that he might not have stopped.

And there is no way he was driving at slower than 20mph…

[David9694]

SaveTheWail wrote:

‘A group of parents have said their children’s school run is becoming increasingly dangerous because of a “nightmare” zebra crossing.’  It’s the zebra crossing’s fault.  Plenty of self-driving vehicles involved, too.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gm7ymd2njo

“The council no longer provides school crossing patrol cover at Broom Lane and parent Kay Simkin said this was because a lollipop lady had resigned following abusive behaviour by drivers.”

[SaveTheWail]

‘A group of parents have said

‘A group of parents have said their children’s school run is becoming increasingly dangerous because of a “nightmare” zebra crossing.’  It’s the zebra crossing’s fault.  Plenty of self-driving vehicles involved, too.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gm7ymd2njo

[David9694]

Surely a penalty notice will

Surely a penalty notice will have been delivered by now, which will state where the car is parked?

[David9694]

quiff wrote:

I’d say just 4 reverting is a good result; they haven’t just been steamrollered by public pressure. Of those, I know 3 well and agree that 30 is probably right.  

public pressure? 

[David9694]

You can’t have somewhere to

You can’t have somewhere to live around here because cars 

Devon area ‘can’t cope with more homes’ and at ‘breaking point’

The warning came despite more properties being confirmed

The cash will also pay to reintroduce a half-hourly 19 bus service on Saturdays. Cllr Helen Walker (Lib Dem, Bickington) said that the area is “at saturation point” for new housing without major infrastructure investment.

“Our health provision is full, our road network is at breaking point and our sewage system is elderly,” she said

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/devon-area-cant-take-more-10004281?int_source=nba

[Author]

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