I was walking down Church Street earlier today - just passing Julian Graves - when a car being driven by an elderly gentleman pulls up onto the pavement, heads straight for me causing me to step sideways toward the shop windows to avoid being run over. The driver puts the obligatory blue badge on the dash-board and then trots over the road to the butchers!
Just what is happening in this town? The pavement outside the shops just below the church yard has always got cars or delivery lorries parked on it. They are beginning to damage the bricked pavement.
Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Jay wrote:By the way, did you know that another popular use for pavements is as overflow space for one's larger garden plantings.Good here, innit!
Also "sandwich boards" advertising the culinary wares of certain establishments around the town - it just leaves no room at all for the pedestrian and mobility trolleys!
There was a massive lorry right up on the pavement outside the shops the other day - a big european rig delivering flowers. Those paving stones just cannot take this sort of punishment - it won't be long before someone trips over a raised brick then there will be a mighty compo claim to the council. They might do something about the pavement parking then.
Congratulations to the local authority - several bollards have now been erected on the kerbside outside the shops in Church Street - this should put a stop to the pavement parking.
Well Done!
The bollards actually blend in very well with the street and add to the character on the approach up to the church - a real improvement and benefit to this part of our beautiful town.
Now you see 'em - now you don't.
Council workers have removed the newly erected bollards in Church Street earlier today.
Thats about a grand of council tax payers money the council have wasted and they have sent out a clear message that it is ok to drive up onto and park on the footpath. Just because a few shopkeepers, who have been encouraging delivery drivers to obstruct the pavement, kicked up a stink. Its quite clear that DCC do not care about pedestrians in this county.
The whole issue is a load of bollards !!!
We've just been out doing the shopping, a van and 2 cars were parked on the pavement as we passed. A young mum with a walking toddler had to step out into the road to get up to the church yard.
What on earth are the council thinking? The decision to put the bollards there in the first place was the right one. Why, after a week, have they been removed?
Local Yocal wrote: What on earth are the council thinking? The decision to put the bollards there in the first place was the right one. Why, after a week, have they been removed?
Hi Local,
I agree ... it's beyond belief. The whole farce has wasted about a grand of tax payers money. DCC have some explaining to do.
An article in the Herald last week said the bollards blocked an ambulance getting to the Memorial Club - Bollards blocked 999 ambulance was the column headline - how silly.
The fact of the matter is that the massive lorry delivering to Julian Graves blocked the ambulance - and because of the intransigence of the delivery driver, the paramedic had to proceed on foot. It was nothing to do with the bollards - these simply stopped the delivery lorry from driving up onto the pavement. That driver should have been reported for obstruction!
The bollards were protecting pedestrians before they were removed soon after installation by the local looney councillor. The man from the florist - Paul Drew - didn't like them because it made it awkward for him to use the pavement as a personal car-park.
Bring back the bollards and stop cow-towing to these local traders that think every bit of ground outside of their shops is their personal loading bay or car park.
Its all gone quiet on the bollards front - the matter is now being bounced from coridoor to alleyway at the 'head-shed' in County Hall. Expect the councillors to talk and talk about this issue before anything is done - we'll probably see movement in a year or so.
I'm sure the hot air expelled by our councillors is adding to the problems of global warming.
All this talking is doing nothing to solve the problem. Only this morning there were no less than 5 lorries/delivery vans stopped in the middle of the road in Church Street - they couldn't even get up onto the pavement by the shops because two cars were parked there.
Traffic came to a dead stop and some cars at the back of the queue reversed back into Market Place to exit via Prospect Place.
They should have left the bollards where they were and set about organising a loading bay in Market Place for these deliveries.
The shopkeepers should ensure that smaller vehicles are used for their deliveries - some of those large lorries are just not suitable for our narrow High Street and roads.
I live on Church Street
The issue of the bollards was that there was no consultation at all with residents nor business owners before they were erected. They literally went up overnight without warning so it wasn't about whether they are a good thing or not but the lack of due process in arriving at the decision to erect them
We'd all like to see small delivery lorries delivering to the businesses on Church Street but I doubt that it is possible to request this from suppliers. The only alternative to using the pavement is to block the road. This could be done overnight but then would disturb residents.
Personally I'd like Church Street to be pedestrianised with access for deliveries only at certain times of day. Even us residents would have to park elsewhere..I am not aware of any garages or residential parking spaces on Church Street that would require access
The use of weight restrictions on vehicles using Church Street would encourage suppliers to use smaller vehicles or the creation of loading bays in Market Place or further up Church Street would be an acceptable alternative to blocking the road. Although, it seems that drivers don't care any more and Church Street is often blocked by vehicles delivering to the toy or hardware shop and private cars just stop where they like in the middle of the road when dropping off at the charity shop.
The priority must be the safety of pedestrians - at least the bollards kept the vehicles from driving up onto the pavement.
Pedestrianisation is the answer - not the mish mash of a muddle that we have at present.
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