Letter in the Herald Express

Yet again some one has written to the local paper, the Herald Express, complaining aboput the Traffic Wardens. Well lets get one thing straight, we don't have traffic wardens in Torbay any more, we have Parking Attendants. The traffic wardens were the ones employed by the police who spent their days on the streets wandering round with their hands clasped tightly behind their backs imitating Phil the Greek and issued one parking ticket every 167 days, or was it every 761 days. They have gone, replaced by people who are prepared to go out and do a days work even if it upsets a few people who park on yellow lines without bothering to check if there is a restriction on parking in force.

Also lets get something else straight, parking restrictions are not there to make parking difficult. They are there to make driving easier. I drive 100 miles a day round the Bay and I have definatly noticed that with few exceptions my job has become a little easier.

Lets take the Sea Front as an example. For the past 8 years I have been driving past cars parked on the Abbey Gardens side of the sea front. There has for all of that time been a plate which says "May to Sept No waiting at any time". Now because it is fairly difficut for a Traffic Warden to issue a ticket with his hands super gluded behind his back, people parked here all year round. In the summer it was posible to take 20 mins to get from the Grand Hotel to Belgrave Road. Thousands of drivers were held up as the tried to drive their cars along the road. Remember driving your car is what you bought it for,not to have it rot away in a traffic jam with the engine burning fossil fuel and poluting the world. These thousands were held up by the parking of 25 cars. Even if there were 4 people per car enjoying themselves on the beach that's only 100 selfish people holding up thousands. And increasing polution and speeding Global Warming. Because of these 100 selfish people enjoying themselves on the beach in a few years time sea levels will have risen so much that we wont have a beach for future generations the enjoy them selves on. So Parking Attendant aren't just waiting to pounce with their tickets, they are saving the planet.

So before you park your car on a double yellow line, think, "Will this cost me £60.00?"

Eventualy there will be so many cars on the road that it will be imposible to find parking places for all of them and owners will have to spend hours each day driving round hoping that some other idiot car owner will decide to go for a drive (therebye losing his most precious posesion, a parking place). When that day comes it will be time to take all the cars to the crusher and travel by bike.

Or bus, come to that.