Residents Parking Only June 27, 2010
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Irish Politics, Northern Ireland, The Left.trackback
On some levels this is sort of entertaining.
Thing is that I know well the impulses in inner city communities to attempt to stymie out of area parking. As it happens there’s no parking spot outside where I live, nothing but double yellow lines, but some years ago some residents put up on the fence of the house I live in as well as all others along the terrace, Residents Parking Only. As I say, with double yellow lines the issue is sort of academic.
But the signs are entirely without legal backing, and given the proximity to Croke Park – which was the real driver of the push to put them up – somewhat pointless. Living that close to it the roads are filled with parked cars at weekends.
There are many possible responses to it (not least that the administration of Croke Park are remarkably ungenerous in allocating even the odd complimentary ticket to communities close enough to regularly feel the effects of their activities – those closer in get a better deal or so I believe), but in truth living in a city has certain costs as well as benefits, and this is one of them – if one chooses to see it that way.
Which isn’t to say that the responses aren’t sincere, or not deeply held – and strengthened on occasion by a sense of change where before there was relatively little or at least it felt controllable.
More similar, in a way, to the complaints in Belfast are out of area parking for those who work in local banks or shops. But… given that those people are generally working in the community or close enough to it, it’s hard to know what to do. Of course I’d prefer if they were cycling or taking public transport, but sometimes that’s not possible. Or to push and prod people towards that choice takes a considerable length of time and we’re talking years, not months.
So, even were I certain that what was being attempted in Belfast was a good idea, and I’m not, I’m pretty certain that it’s not going to work and that it may well be built on flawed assumptions. Perhaps not the best way to start a campaign.
As the recipient of a pair of compo Westlife croker tickets, sometimes the local resident thing has benefits you’d rather not avail of.