Between the lines
Just because Three Rivers has been a LibDem run council since 1994, and I have been a councillor since 1996, it doesn’t mean that I have to agree with everything it says and does. Today is certainly one of those days.
This week’s Watford Observer carries a report of a resident who received a parking ticket after parking in the main village car park. The resident said she received the ticket for overhanging the back of the space; the council maintain that she was parked across two spaces widthways and that there is a photograph to show it. That may well be the case and without having seen the photo, I don’t know. Either way, I am not going to comment on individual cases.
However what has really incensed people are the comments of the council’s spokesman.
“Apart from a tiny number next to a tree, the bays are all standard size and should not pose a problem. For parking a normal car, most drivers have no difficulty in parking responsibly in the car park in Abbots Langley”.
I’m sorry, but those comments are simply untrue. I went to the car park yesterday morning and measured the spaces. Not one space meets the standard size of 4.8 metres long. Some were only 4 metres long. My car is a small, but perfectly formed VW Golf hatchback. It won’t fit in the space (and no jokes about women drivers please!).
My husband drives a slightly larger Passat estate. Although by no means the largest car on the road, he has no chance of fitting it into a space anywhere in the village car park.
“If anyone is genuinely unable to fit their vehicle inside a bay, they should park on-street”.
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with immediate effect no further tickets will be issued for cars overhanging bays in this car park until the whole issue is clarified;
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all previous tickets for overhanging will be reviewed and consideration given to refunds;
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that spaces big enough for commercial vehicles be placed at the far end of the car park, and
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the council will consider options for re-marking the car park with more realistically sizes bays.
Hopefully we will be able to get some speedy action from the council.
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