Middle Earth, 1835 Laws, and a Question for JVH from Page 37


seeking an excuse to penalize the complainant rather than to address their own failure of service.


Footway parking (2) When illegal parking takes place on the footway, which is


not built to take the weight of a car, the local council can pay out millions of dollars on footway repairs. In Cambridge, they pay out about a million dollars a year in compensation to people injured by tripping on broken pavement and so on. Perhaps they should bill the police for failure to do their job?


‘Advisory’ street parking InAberdeen, they provide a localwho is disabled and has no


driveway with an “advisory” street parking space outside their house.Advisorymeans no legal status and anyone can park there. The Scottish government has changed the law, and these spaces have to be replaced with proper regulated spaces. I have a strong hunch that Parliament has done this because


the pretend bays don’t work. Aberdeen is now very exercised about this, because it will cost them a lot of time and money to fix the system. Newsflash: Government costsmoney; stop whin- ing and get on with it.


One for JVH ExeterCitymay abolish Sunday parking charges,which raise


about $225,000 a year in income, to show solidarity with traders and the public during the recession, as one councillor put it.


First of all, the chargeswere sure as hell introduced solely to


raise revenue; they were not needed to control traffic, since the city freely admits that demand is low on Sundays. However, Exeter is a major tourist attraction, and I can’t see that visitors willmake decisions about visiting the town based on a few cents more or less spent on parking. “Hey, mom, let’s go and spend an extra dollar in the gift shop since we don’t have to pay for park- ing” – not going to happen. And how about the city’s math? Sure, they raise $225,000 a


year from parking, but Sunday charges are lower than the rest of the week and they probably pay staff more for working Sundays and it costs the same to process and collect a 90 cent payment as it does a $1.50 one. I suspect that if they do themath properly, theymight actual-


ly be better off making Sunday parking free of charge. Now I know JVH has strong views about “free” parking; so do I.What do you think they should do, John? (RE Exeter City: Show solidarity by taking the $225,000


and fix the broken sidewalks, install new lighting, clean up that crumbling cathedral, and then tell people that their parking fees are going for somethingmore than just paying for the local coun- cil’s tea during their endless sessions. JVH)


Peter Guest is PT’s correspondent on all things European and Middle East. He can be reached at peterguestparking@hotmail.co.uk.


PT


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OCTOBER 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


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