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« A special message from Nick Hines. See also Parish Plan; Safety; Traffic.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Join the blog
Maybe it is due to the increase in the number of road vehicles and the subsequent overcrowding of our streets but whatever the reason, pavement parking seems to be more prevalent today than at any time in my life. Unfortunately this creates all sorts of problems. Walk around Eynsham at any time of day or night and you are bound to find people who have parked their cars half on the pavement and half on the road. One can only assume that the driver is trying not to block the road but in most cases there will still be room for only one vehicle to pass and others are still held up.
This parking has 2 major consequences:
ONE: Very often there is no room for pedestrians, wheelchair users, parents with buggies etc to pass and therefore the individual has to go into the road. Elderly people may also have difficulty stepping into the road. The dangers created by this are obvious and it is very unfair on the pedestrian.
TWO: Many pavements are in a very poor state of repair and pavement parking is a major cause. Damaged pavements are a significant drain on local council resources - not only in the repair of damage but in compensation to people who have tripped on the broken paving stones. Councils do not have their own money. All their revenue is raised from local tax payers and therefore these costs are met by us all.
It is also worth noting that ...
many drains/sewers in Eynsham are unadopted by the water company and any repair cost has to be met by the local residents. A few years ago as a consequence of vehicles parking on the pavements at the Mill Street end of John Lopes Road the sewers collapsed. This led to effluent coming up into the living rooms! The repair cost of £2000 had to be met by residents of that area.
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I understand that it is against the law ...
for HGVs to park on any pavement. It is also illegal for anyone to obstruct the footpath.
Maybe just two wheels on the curb does not obstruct the footpath to any serious degree but it is also illegal to drive on the footpath. In order to have parked there the driver must have driven on to it.
Web: HAVE YOUR SAY!
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And another thing ...
Yes, this car really is parked across the footway, on a busy corner, on a double yellow line. How selfish can you get?
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WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?
First, may I ask all car drivers to consider the above points? There is NO NEED TO PARK ON THE PAVEMENT. You could also point out to any visitors you may have the problems that their actions cause. There is, after all, a large free car park in Back Lane.
Second, could all businesses in the village ask their delivery drivers to park considerately (and also not to leave their engines running whilst delivering!). I would hate to see bollards on every single pavement in Eynsham and let's hope we don’t have to go down this route. Unfortunately this was the only solution to the problems in John Lopes Road I mentioned above but it has been successful and maybe more are needed.
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Email: nickrhines@btinternet.com
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Nick Hines
Eynsham Online
is an Eynsham Parish Council initiative
Email: eynsham-online@hotmail.co.uk
Web: www.eynsham.org.uk