Collect_Serv_advert_BPA_60x265_MAY13_Collect_S EDITOR’S COMMENT upfront
AND IT’S GOODBYE FROM HER
Editor of Parking News Sarah Juggins is moving on to pastures new. Here, she sums up her feelings towards the profession that has dominated her life for four years
A
s with any change to the status quo, I have mixed feelings – excitement at the challenge ahead; sadness at leaving behind friends and colleagues; relief that I won’t have to explain – yet again – that I can’t write about the injustice of the PCN a friend received when they were ‘just a little over their parking time’; but, actually, the most over-riding emotion will be one of thankfulness.
On my first day as editor of Parking News, I was about as informed about the parking profession as the average ‘Jo’ in the street. My knowledge of parking was simply that there were places you could pay to park, places where you definitely should never park and places where you might get away with a free five minutes – but it was a risk. Now I know a lot more, and some of the things I have learnt have amazed me. I will list them here: ■ The parking profession is full of people with very good intentions to provide a top- notch service to motorists and the general public
■ The parking equipment manufacturers are at the cutting edge of technological development
■ The UK has some major parking issues, notably a lack of space in major cities, an inherited system of roads that do not help with congestion and a tradition of seeing parking as something that should be ‘free’
■With 73 per cent of people in the UK possessing driving licences and cars being
www.britishparking.co.uk
parked for 97 per cent of their time, parking needs a very clear lead from government
■ Parking has an integral part to play in the economy, and good parking systems can encourage people into town centres
The public has a very
ambiguous attitude to civil enforcement and its officers
■ The public has a very ambiguous attitude towards civil enforcement and its officers – they recognise the need for parking management and high-quality parking facilities – and demand a top service from their local authority but if they get a ticket, then the CEO issuing the ticket is the lowest of the low So, my gratitude towards the parking profession is because of my new levels of knowledge. And the profession has never ceased to be newsworthy, making my job easier. I have heard about the parking manager who delivered a bag of groceries to a person who was wrongly issued with a parking ticket by one of her officers; I have witnessed a sports festival taking place in a car park; and I have written about the chaos in a Welsh town
when the parking enforcement was removed. I have also watched the chief executive of the BPA politely disguise his amazement and, patiently, explain to journalists or ignorant members of the public that ‘no’, the parking industry was not out to rob people, and ‘yes’, the ultimate aim of parking enforcement was to serve the public. So thank you BPA, for an enlightening, enjoyable and unforgettable four years.
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Simplicity JUNE 2013 7
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