| Topic: | Re:Re:CPZ meeting 26/01/11 | |
| Posted by: | Mark Proctor | |
| Date/Time: | 26/01/11 23:21:00 |
| The debate was pretty good, the heckling was minimal and mild mannered and did not hinder the process. Everyone waited their turn for the microphone and it was general a good affair. However the points made by the residents were very poignant and obviously made the councillors feel very uncomfortable, as we then got the most condescending speech on democracy and Mob Rule!!!! Where one of the councillors was very clearly making accusations at the audience; inferring to us as some sort of rampaging mob. To me this wasn't just a general point on the issue of Mob Rule but an exasperated councillor who had had enough of the “rabble” that didn't agree with him, I was personally quite disgusted by that. Unfortunately the seating was arranged in such a way that you couldn't see who was talking, so I wasn't sure which councillor that was, if someone can let me know so I can be sure who not to vote for in the next local election. I found the language used by some, not all, of the councillor's to be very disingenuous. I quote councillor Felicity Barwood from “thisislocallondon”: “I think this indicates that people are thinking we do need a CPZ and I think we’ve got to listen to what people are saying. Keep the commuters out and the long-term parkers.“ http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/4638185.___Free_for_all____parking_driving_residents_mad/ As was clearly pointed out in the meeting from available figures it is a small minority of residents that want CPZ. It worries me that some of the councillor's are undergoing a public spin operation to convince people that there is a large enough majority of people for which this is a problem to justify the matter. It worries me even more that when you point out fallacy of their arguments, they resort to “we won't listen to you, you're just a mob” arguments. And please.... arguments of protecting a vulnerable set of society – we are talking about parking, not a children's sweat shop factory, get some perspective. The council was also very clear. It's a consultation not a vote and the decision will be done by the 9 councillors regardless of the figures in the consultation. This very much indicated, in my opinion, that there will be a CPZ and the consultation is to help shape what form and where. Other aspects glossed over was that the council has not undertaken an actual study of parking availability. They only know there is a problem, not what that problem is; of course parking isn't always easy, this is London after all, it's why many chose to go without a car. I checked Elmwood Road daily for over a month, while it is true at night time (when CPZ would not have any effect) the number of spaces was very minimal; during the day there was always anywhere between 5 and 13 spaces. Another argument was that people drive aggressively to get down the road quickly so they don't have to give way and reverse to oncoming traffic. While not popular either, clearly a one way system would resolve that and would be the lesser of the evils. So maybe the council should find out the cause of people's concerns and look at a range of ways of dealing with that. Mark |