NIGHTMARE parking problems
February 1, 2009
NIGHTMARE parking problems could come to an end as plans are put forward to build a commuter car park.
People living in Theydon Bois have not been able to park outside their own front door because of restrictions introduced to prevent commuters leaving cars in the area.
And commuters have been forced to drive into work rather than use the tube because there is nowhere to park their cars.
But a man from Epping could solve all of their problems with his plans to construct up to 280 spaces next to Theydon Bois tube station.
George Dilloway owns the former Old Forester Club land off Abridge road and decided the area would be ideal for a car park.
He said: “The council haven’t provided any options for car parking in the area and at the moment about 60 people are already dumping their cars there illegally everyday because there is nowhere else for them to go with all the double yellow lines. It’s a major problem.”
Mr Dilloway is hoping that Transport for London will agree to open up the entrance to the tube station to make the car park even more accessible for commuters.
He added: “If they expanded the entrance it could be on the same side of the road as the car park.
“It would also help ease the commuter problem in other areas like Epping where parking is also a nightmare. If you’re not there by 6.30am there’s no spaces left.”
The plans were welcomed by residents.
Clive Cooper from Theydon Park Road is unable to park his car outside his home because of yellow line restrictions introduced to stop commuter parking.
He said: “The restrictions prevent us from parking on our road between 10am and 11am. But that means I can’t leave my car there during the day because I can’t very well come home and move it during that time.
“If the car park solves the problem and means that these restrictions can be lifted then it’s a good thing.
“I can’t get the train to work at the moment and have to take the car, it’s nonsense. It’s affecting everyone and has caused so much disruption. Something definitely needs to be done.”
Alison Harvey from Cloverly Road in Ongar used to park in Theydon Bois before the restrictions were put in place.
But she was forced to use a friend’s driveway in Epping to get to work when the yellow lines were introduced.
She said: “I’m on maternity leave now but before I left I couldn’t find anywhere to park and had to use my friend’s drive. I didn’t want to do that forever and I was looking into somewhere else to park when I go back to work.
“It will be great if they do make a car park and will certainly put my mind at rest.”
But not everyone welcomed the plans.
A spokeswoman from Theydon Bois Action Group (TBAG) said: “The business plan for the car park is unsustainable, the car park would be of no benefit to local people, it is too far from the station and it will cause traffic problems on a dangerous stretch of the Abridge Road.
“It will not alleviate parking problems in the village as commuters will continue to park for free on our roads.
“It would have to be lit and the access road stretching uphill will cause a significant loss of openness on the Green Belt.”
People have until January 20 to submit an opinion on the car park application.
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LPG car explodes as driver lights cigarette
January 24, 2009
Peter Tidbury had just filled his Peugeot 607 with 40 litres of gas at a service station and was driving at around 30mph.
He could smell gas in the car and passed it off as remnants from the petrol station but it was in fact a cloud of fuel in the cabin.
Mr Tidbury decided to smoke a cigarette and the second he ignited the lighter, its flame sparked a fireball.
The windows were blown out and the bonnet and boot were thrown open by the force of the blast.
Nearby householders were evacuated for fear of a further explosion and the windscreen was discovered 50 feet away.
His clothes melted on him and firefighters believe he survived serious injury or death because the seats took the force of the explosion.
He had bought the car privately for £5,000 three weeks earlier and two garage checks gave it a clean bill of health before he got behind the wheel.
Mr Tidbury, 55, an energy-saving company manager, who needed hospital treatment for minor flash burns, said: “It just wasn’t my day to die.”
Mr Tidbury, a widower from south-east London, drove to northern England last weekend to visiting his daughter and friends.
After a website to locate a filling station selling LPG, he filled up in Monk Bretton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
He said: “I was told you get a slight smell of gas when you fill up so thought nothing of it and wound the window down to freshen the air and put it back up again.
“I fancied a fag so wound the window down again slightly and then lit up. I was doing about 30mph and as I lit the cigarette there was an almighty explosion.
“The windows went out, the bonnet went up and the boot went up just as you see in the Hollywood movies. I was belted in and braked sharply. I can’t remember this but I was told that I was directing traffic around the car whilst my suit jacket was still smoking.
“The fireball singed me on my face, hands and legs and melted my jacket lining and some of my shirt. I looked as if a firework had exploded in my face.”
It is thought a leak in the pipe from the filler to the fuel tank allowed gas to seep into the car which ignited when he lit up.
He added: “When I walked past that car to get in the ambulance I thought that was not survivable. For me it is miraculous.”
Mr Tidbury has ruled out buying another LPG car and intends to quit smoking.
Fire station watch manager Neil McQuillan said: “The car looked like a hand grenade had gone off in it. How anyone can survive an explosion like that when the car is severely damaged is remarkable really.”
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring
By Paul Stokes
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Safer Parking award from the British Parking Association
December 28, 2008
Westfield London, the capitals newest shopping centre, has been awarded a Safer Parking award from the British Parking Association (BPA) within its first six weeks of opening. Europes biggest inner city shopping and leisure destination received Park Mark status at a recent ceremony for providing a safe parking facility with 4,500 spaces.
| Car park manager, Gary Lee was presented with the Park Mark Award from Sector Inspector Paul Banbro of Hammersmith & Fulham Metropolitan Police Borough. PC David Hinton was also at the presentation. The team is directly responsible for the Policing of the Westfield London Shopping Centre.
The Safer Parking Scheme (SPS), run by the BPA for the Association of Chief Police Officers, was developed to provide a benchmark standard for all parking areas across the UK, to create safer parking both for the public and their vehicles. The Park Mark Safer Parking Award is granted to parking areas that have achieved the requirements of a risk assessment conducted by the Police. These requirements mean the parking operator has put in place measures that help to deter criminal activity and anti-social behaviour, thereby doing everything they can to prevent crime and reduce the fear of crime in their parking area. |
| Gary Lee said: We are delighted to receive Park Mark status in the opening weeks of the new centre. We are committed to the highest level of customer service, and with Christmas due to be our busiest time, it was vital to provide all our shoppers with a safe and reliable parking facility while they enjoy the new centre.
The shopping centre in Shepherds Bush has a vehicle management system to indicate parking availability and also offers a valet parking service for the convenience of its customers. Kelvin Reynolds, head of SPS at the British Parking Association, said: With the number of Park Mark awards on the increase – we now have over 3,700 members – it proves that the scheme is an invaluable tool in helping to make parking environments safe and increasing public reassurance in these areas. When drivers leave their cars in Park Mark award facilities they will find them exactly as they left them on their return.
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Yerevan: Facing Lack of Subway Car Parking
July 16, 2008
Today in a discussion session conducted in the Municipality of Yerevan the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan was also present. According to the officials the problem number one in our city is the lack of subway car parking even in the central part of the city, reported the press service of the President’s Administration.
During the discussion the president said that the main problem is that cars are parking in wrong territories and places and not the points that there are too many cars in our city. “We should work on this rather seriously and find some solutions,” said the president.
According to the information and public relations department of the Municipality, the director of Italian “Renko” company Giovanni Rubini was also present at the discussion. He said that the representative of Italian Company in Armenia is “Armenian PPP” and as soon as they are authorized to conduct the project they will start constructing sub way car parking first in the squares of Aznavour and Saxarov and then expand the project.
The President said that the construction of those subway car parking is very important to make simple the traffic in Armenia.
Source: http://www.panorama.am
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London’s priciest car park ‘charges £43 for six hours’
July 16, 2008
Parking in the capital’s most expensive car park will set you back £43 for a six-hour stay, a London newspaper said Monday.
The multi-storey car park on Pavilion Road in Knightsbridge has been named London’s costliest by the Evening Standard. Located walking distance from luxury department store Harrods, the NCP-run facility charges drivers £7.20 an hour.
The paper said the highest hourly rate could be found at the NCP in Berners Street, Bloomsbury, which charges £8 per hour but a mere £33 for six hours.
The survey found that people driving into the capital for a day of shopping are better off parking at the Masterpark on Oxford Street where charges are £5 an hour or £24.50 for six hours.
AA president Edmund King told the Evening Standard the charges were “mind-boggling”, adding that they keep many shoppers out of central London.
Bargain hunters unwilling to walk, cycle or take the Tube or bus, should head for the City of London area car parks, the paper said, with parking at Spitalfields and Smithfield Market a steal at £2 an hour.
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9Q36wTrSbBSwq9jMKc3iJQt1LQQ
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