Jamz3k

Today i visited one of the local towns to get me bap chopped. Had to park 20million miles away due the serious amount of double yellow lines, poor parking areas and extortionate pay-as-go parking lots. I refuse to pay to park my car in a small ****ty town to get my hair cut and as all of them seemed to be empty i mustn't be the only one refusing to pay.

Now if we get rid of all these double yellow lines, 15minute parking bays and pay parking areas there would probably be a bigger chance that instead of just getting my haircut i may have actually ventured around the town but there is no point because all the shops have closed down because no one can get parked anywhere near them. Instead I just made a swift exit due to worrying that my car was going to be used to football practice by the local youth.

If more people could actually get into their towns, more people might actually spend money in them instead of going out of town to big supermarkets with free parking which would rejuvinate town centres and help local small business.

Easy.

Its really annoying seeing traffic wardens in a town that has a population of 10. Its actually quite disgusting imo.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Our local town has just taken on another ten.......and they freely admit that their wages will be funded by fines.

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

Changing the parking bays to goods vehicle only and adding a few council parking officers has killed a lot of the local shops near where I live.

Clarebabes

Wouldn't go into Northampton town centre unless I REALLY had to. I am not the only one either, you can tell by the amount of empty shops.

I don't see the same problem a few miles away in Milton Keynes

scoobeenut

Is using public transport not an option for going into town?

Jamz3k

Why would i do that when i have a fully insured car with a tank full of petrol?

StickyMicky

It is an approx 3 mile walk to the train station to allow me to get public transport into Newcastle, its not so bad on the way in, but coming back with shedloads of bags = no chance.

I can get reasonably close at my mates car wash and park up for free + get a quick train in as his site is right next to a metro station but....

I very rarely go into Newcastle town now to be honest, even my local small town i avoid for the most part, it is a proper chew on to get parked when i have to go to the dentist.

I mainly do my own personal/business banking once per week with barclays and i am "lucky?!?" they have a large goods only type place around the back with an entrance into the branch, i use the self service deposit box to offload my cash (its right behind the door, and nobody ever uses it!?!) so it only takes me about 10 seconds once i am out of the car, trying to find an empty parking space is a nightmare to be honest, i could park miles away, but i never feel comfortable walking about with what i consider large sums of cash on me.

Any other reason to be in the town i will just park up where ever and hike in on foot, but carrying the cash is a bit dodgy, so **** em, i have been collared once by a parking warden (in nearly 6 years) and once i explained the situation with the sums of cash involved, plus the fact that the deposit chute is "just there mate" he was fine about it

scoobeenut

Its just that age old problem really, if everybody drives into town as they'd like to it just causes congestion and pollution. At the end of the day if you were only going in for a haircut, did you really need to take the car?

I often go into town now without the car and don't have to worry about congestion charges, when the meter is going to run out etc. I can also go for a couple of drinks or take longer to look around without worrying.

StickyMicky

I agree with this, i have been out for a few meals into my local town, and we just walk in, took us around 20 mins to walk to the local restaurant, took us about 40 mins to walk back as we kept zig zagging over the road (i was wasted pmsl)

Had a lot more fun walking back mind ha ha

dpb

its all part of the grander scheme to bulldoze the average motorist out of existance

Jamz3k

Although not all situations are the same, I live in a Village, if I was to get the train to the local town it would take over an hour each way and cost me a fiver. Now as i've already paid for the petrol in my car and my time is precious to me. I'd rather drive as it takes me literally five minutes to get to the next town.

I genuinely don't think its an age old problem. I took lessons and passed my test and I worked hard to buy my car and i still work hard to maintain and run it so i don't see why i should be made to feel guilty about using it.

scoobeenut

Trouble is there's just too many cars on the road now, I like you took my lessons and passed my test and work hard to maintain and run my car, but I prefer to use it on the open road.

Anyway I'm off into town now for a few sherbets, by bus

Clarebabes

I see you live in London.... Case closed as far as I am concerned. Londoners, with their excellent public transport systems, have absolutely no idea about how difficult it is to get around (especially after 6pm!) in the provinces

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I just park on the double yellows in the middle of newcastle and don't care as my missus has a disability badge

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

Spot on Clare, when in London recently which we went to on train from Yorkshire i said to my worse half that if i lived there i probably wouldn't bother with a car. I couldn't live without it up here though, public transport is s**te and a rip off.

Aaron

boomer

...or rather, there are not enough roads being built considering the nearly fifty billion pounds a year the motorist pumps into DahlBroonling's coffers!!!

That's an M6 Toll sized road being built every week, continuously, 52 weeks a year, year on year - and yet being operated for free (because we paid for it, each and every time)!!!

Think about it



mb

boomer

...and actually, thinking about it a bit harder - that sort of road-building would also create one heck of a lot of new jobs

mb

daddyscoob

Just a thought..... lets say you are in a small town and everyone who works in the town parks in the spaces in the town cars parked all day nowhere for shoppers to park there are reasons for theses rules small shops would die without these rules cos everyone would shop out of town thumb:

Jamz3k

I'm sure there are reasons for these rules but we have towns filled with banks and building societies and nothing else because all the small shops have closed down as they are in-accessible.

Leslie

I can remember the days before yellow lines. It all seemed to work pretty well really. People used to be considerate enough not to park where they might cause an obstruction.

How well that would work now with all the extra traffic is hard to say.

Les

adehook

lol, why use public transport to be the only person on a stinking bus from the late 80's that bollocks smoke out, when i can just drive straight there, in the scoob knowing ive paid my taxes in more ways then one to help reduce all the potholes and to build new roads from these taxes,lol

adehook

although my local town is still free to park and is always rammed out with people, but its just a matter of time before pay and display machines are fitted

kingofturds

iTrader: (1)

cornwall council is £500 million in debt yet are taking on 8 more traffic wardens or "civil enforcement officers" as they like to call them they also want to raise parking charges to £1.40 an hour.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

It's a case of using the right tool for the job, the problem is too many people have "fully insured cars with a full tank of petrol" and all use them to go to the town, the town only has a finite number of spaces to park cars and once they are full you have to park further away, a car takes up a fair bit of space to convey one person to another place and do what they need to do, how many times bigger is the car than you, a car is definitely freedom but it does become baggage in some situations.

As a nation we are all buying bigger cars, witness car parks full of X5's, Cayennes, RR Sports etc etc, even Fiestas are big nowadays.

I can sort of see your point but regardless of whether you have paid for it, if it is hard work, rather than moaning about it find a more convenient way or alter your movements to avoid peak times.

I use my bike(s) or walk despite having three cars to go at as using a car in Wilmslow is generally frsutrating, cars are for longer journeys or when you need to carry more goods than you can physically carry yourself, not like my dads little fat neighbour to drive 75 yards to the Chinese.

If you walk you dont need to park at all, go by bike and just lock it to something in a way that it doesnt cause an obstruction, with panniers you can carry quite a lot, with a rucksack even more.

I know its not cool and people like to display their mobile ego, status and general importance whilst they hunt for a parking space but really, its a crap way to go into a small town to do a few jobs if said town is only a couple/few miles away.

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

Quite simple solution, where i live alot of roads have parking spaces that are a maximum of two hours stay. So enough time for shoppers to do bits and pieces, but not enough time for people who work there to take up spaces all day

StickyMicky

All you have to do is swim accross the tyne and your in Newcastle anyway.

Just watch out for border patrol and customs

BOB.T

If they'd let me cycle round Tesco I might consider it! There's no way I'd cycle the nine miles into town to get my bike nicked though!

As for public transport, you townies try get a bus round here, never gonna happen!

Jamz3k

Timetable: Larne, Bus Station - Larne, Bus Station - Service 170B

I just thought i'd post up for those who actually have decent public transport system. This is my local bus route, its fantastically accomodating! infact its so accomodating that it doesn't actually enter my village but instead stops at the crossroads coming up to my village and if you could walk up the hill to my village with all your shopping without dying, i'd buy you a Starbar!

The Zohan

Yup, to get the 8 miles from home to work in Northampton would take 2 changes of bus and 1hr 45 mins each way - 8 miles!

As for northampton town centre - flatten it with the local councellors, eastern europeans and local chavs and start again, fleapit of a town rouined by poor planning, and shed load of non-intergrated eastern europeans who now feel they own Northampton, certainly parts of it!