FEATURE INTERVIEW
As a traffic warden, I wasn’t frightened of talking to anyone, even those I’d given a ticket to. I would explain to the driver how to avoid it in the future
your life is a learning curve, it doesn’t matter what that is. If you accept that, you can go as far as you wish to go.
What we have lost is the art of talking. When I was a traffic warden, I wasn’t frightened of talking to anyone, even those I’d given a ticket to. I could have conversations with them – I wouldn’t walk away. I would explain to the driver why they had got a ticket, and how to avoid it in the future. We don’t tend to do that a lot now, and I think we should be doing that at the forefront. Our culture has changed with things such as call centres, and talking to people on the phone who might not have sufficient knowledge about parking.
There’s a huge number of female staff in the parking sector but unfortunately, in local authorities, they are not recognised
22 SEPTEMBER 2012
for their skills. Females often don’t get promoted to a higher rank. Historically, in local authorities, because they see parking roles as engineering positions for parking managers, highways engineers move sideways to become parking managers. Although females are competent to do the roles, they are sitting in the back offices, carrying on. That was the role that I once had, but I was the most experienced person.
I was elected onto the council four years ago, and when I started I knew that I wanted to make a difference. I got quite involved – whenever I take on something, I like to work my way all the way to the top and learn as much as possible. After a short while, I started getting more involved and I wanted to take it further and promote the BPA, as I believed in it. I realised I had the dynamics to pursue it and push
www.britishparking.co.uk
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