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Parking in Thame ‘is getting like the Wild West !’

On 17/02/2017 At 2:09 am

Category : Missed a ThameNews story?, More News, Thame news

Responses : 5 Comments

SENIOR Police Officers from the town’s Neighbourhood team faced a barrage of criticisms about enforcement of parking restrictions in Thame, during an open session of Thame Town Council this week.

This gentleman thought he’d park on zigzag lines whilst he visited Sainsbury’s! (photo by Frank Millar)

Inspector Mark Harling and SGT Vicky Hoskin told Councillors and questioners from a sparsely populated public gallery, that PCSOs can and do issue tickets for vehicles parked on zig-zag lines in the town (£40 fine), if they are causing an obstruction.  Otherwise they have no powers of enforcement. “Police Officers themselves do police unlawful parking, when and if they are not committed to other priorities,” explained Insp Harling.

Inconsiderate parking around Lashlake

Similarly, because the streets around Lashlake, Green Lane and Moorend Land, often used as car parking for employees of CPM, are not areas with Residential Restricted parking, anyone is allowed to park there and action can be taken only if cars are parked too near to junctions or causing an obstruction. Cllr Mary Stiles reported that residents of Lashlake had complained to her about cars parking on the pavement and on both corners of Greenway, restricting the view around them and dangerously narrowing the road. Sgt Hoskin said that she would look into the matter with PCSO Natalie White who regularly patrols the area.

‘It’s like the Wild West on yellow lines’

Cllr Bob Austin declared that parking on yellow lines in the town was: “..getting like the Wild West!” Particularly mentioning the mis-use of the five parking spaces opposite The Cottage Bakery, he said: “The situation is becoming ridiculous. How can we tackle it? When you get people quoting back at you a lack of enforcement, you know you’re in trouble.”

Insp Mark Harling

Insp Harling replied that when letters were issued to persistent offenders previously, there had been ‘a huge decrease’ in the misuse of parking in that area, and that he would look again at repeating that option.

In response to a question about people parking near the junction of Jane Morbey Road recently, from Cllr Mike Deacock, Insp Harling said that he noted the problem and would look at it. Similarly, he took note of a complaint from a Chiltern Vale resident, Owen Davies about cars being parked on the blind corner between Beech Road and Sycamore Drive. assuring Mr Davies that the police would do what they can.

Prioritising with limited resources

Insp Harling was blunt, concluding to everyone in the council chamber: “I know that parking has an impact on local communities. We will try to do what we can with letters etc, but parking cannot be our main priority. Threat, harm, risk to people, child-sex exploitation, missing persons etc will be prioritised. A lot of the work of Neighbourhood teams say, ten years-ago would have been dealing with thefts, burglaries, etc. Now there has to be an acceptance that some of our work is too important not to be a priority.”

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Comments

  1. The very same Councillors who were adamant and derided the Tesco proposal on the outskirts of town -which would undoubtedly have eased congestion and frustration! Lack of law enforcement cannot be blamed – the problem has been self-created by blinkered Councillors – passing the buck and blame to the Police is typical – wake up Councillors – get real and see what your decisions are doing – Thames jewel is rapidly losing its shine!

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  2. Who on earth thinks a Cpm employee would not park in their own car park ( it is only half full most of the time and never full) but would prefer to park 10 minutes walk away??? Whoever made this comment needs to get their facts straight. Apparently people using the Haddenham and Thame Parkway train station use this end of town ( especially the service road by Edgehill) to park then get on the 280!

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  3. Inspector Harling states that tickets are issued to cars parking on zig-zag lines ” if they are causing an obstruction “. Surely the very fact that they park there is an offence! Causing an obstruction is irrelevant! The lines are provided to ensure traffic can clearly see pedestrians waiting to use the crossing and vice-versa.

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  4. Like the Wild West? Bit dramatic! I’d rather the Police spent their time tackling real crime not poor parking.

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  5. Whilst I understand the need to prioritise resources, surely the Police know that ignoring low-level ‘crime’ such as parking offences/mis-use emboldens perpetrators and leads to an increase in more serious offences. Inconsiderate parking isn’t just a Town Centre issue. On Lea Park, cars are regularly parked on pavements, corners and junctions creating serious safety issues especially for children and older residents.

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