24 June (Part 1) - A shortage of mugs
A source
inside Bexley Council has indicated that it is pleased with the performance of
the newly opened Felixstowe Road car park and that £15 a day has not proved to
be too great a disincentive to getting commuters away from residential streets.
The actual words are carefully chosen but display an element of optimism which I
find difficult to accept.
Whilst I can understand cash strapped Councils maximising their stealth taxes
especially when I am not personally affected, high charges and the risk of fines
must be a disincentive to any activity. 103 orders (some multiple items) from Amazon so
far this year and two Blu-rays from HMV Bexleyheath. Bexley Council sure knows
how to kill local businesses.
But back to Felixstowe Road.
Yesterday at 13:15 it held 24 paying vehicles much the same as
on 8th June and
the previous two days.
Maybe only 23, the silver/blue vehicle in the middle has a PCN on its windscreen.
By contrast every free Disabled Bay is occupied which must surely prove that price is a factor.
Complicating the issue is the Gayton Road car park to the South of the railway
line. It isn’t closer to the Elizabeth line platforms and unlike Felixstowe
Road involves two flights of stairs to get there. Why is it so much more popular?
Often close to being full. I
doubt that short term shopping trips is much of a factor and I can only think
that it is partly ‘old habits’ and that the number of mugs willing to pay £15 a day is finite.
With car commuters almost exclusively coming from the South, Gayton Road is much
more accessible. (†) Felixtsowe Road involves queuing at two pedestrian crossings
and queueing again to turn right into Overton Road, right again into the narrow
and bendy Sedgemore Road and eventually to Felixstowe Road. It will add a
minimum of five minutes to every journey.
† Out of town readers should perhaps be reminded that the River Thames lies only a mile to the North and the area is served by five very frequent bus routes.
None serve large swathes of the borough to the South.