An Accident Waiting To Happen
I have visited the blog for the first time today and it’s interesting the issues that residents have about the Village.
I moved to Kingsway 4 months ago and have cringed at the amount of near accidents I have seen on the bend which leads up to the new Kingsway School.
I thought the majority of people would use their common sense when parking, but obviously not!
Does it have to wait until a child is hurt for people to stop doing it?
I do understand people’s comments about visitor parking but - to be honest - when it comes to residents cars, you should make sure that the house you buy has adequate parking for your needs.
Kingsway Village was not designed for off-street parking and this was very clear to me when looking for a suitable property.
This post was submitted by cac.
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on Thursday, June 19th, 2008 at 7:51 am
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June 19th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Hi cac,
Welcome to Kingsway and thanks for joining and contributing
I do agree that people should bear this in mind when moving here, but I can’t help thinking that the Developers have been a little greedy when it comes to space left for roads and parking!
I’m sure that the completion of the roads, with resurfacing and designated “no-parking” areas, will help to make some critical areas safer. Sadly though, it seems clear that parking will continue to be a major issue for us all
Let’s all hope that some poor child doesn’t have to pay the price for the thoughtlessness of others.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:27 am
I also hope this is the case, but fear that an accident may well happen with some of the loons flying down Thatcham Avenue in the morning and evenings… and thats just the contractors!
Unfortunately nothing is being done about the situation and - unless there is an accident - I doubt anything will happen prior to the Council taking on the roads in… 2026???
June 30th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
The question is What can be done? People park on the roads as they are legally entitlled to do as there is inadequate parking for all. Even people I know with sufficient driveway still park on the road.
As the average family owns 2 cars and I would estimate 60% of the houses on Kingsway only have provision for one car then who is really to blame? If I do buy a second car, I can’t afford to sell my home just to buy another one, and I would hate to have to move away from the village just as we are getting settled, it seems a drastic move.
So, practically, people need more parking provision in order to make the Village safe. The question is how can this be achieved before everybody starts concreting their front gardens
June 30th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I’m sorry, but this whole issue on parking is really beginning to cheese me off!
As mentioned above, a large proportion of homeowners have 2 cars and only 1 parking space - WHAT ABOUT THEIR GARAGES? The majority of the homes have them.
This issue has nothing to do with what size house you buy or what your legal rights are on parking outside your home - it is to do with people being too lazy to put their cars in their garages! Or not being able to use their garage because it is being used for another purpose. You cannot blame the contractors if people choose to alter the proper use of their garage.
Food for thought? When Woodvale became doubled yellowed, all the homeowners were complaining about lack of parking - I wonder where the cars are now? In their garages perhaps!
June 30th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Hi kingswaymum,
Sorry to hear you’re cheesed off
I’m sure you’re right and that many people park on the roads needlessly, but I’m afraid we won’t solve this issue by simply insisting that people have sufficient space to park.
Also, I’m really not sure about “the majority” of houses having garages, I don’t! I have one parking space, (as do almost all of my neighbours).
Even if we could convince everybody to use their garages for cars, it still wouldn’t account for visitors and for families with more cars than parking spaces.
I take your point about Woodvale but I also recall that many people were originally parking outside the fornt because the contractors were still working behind those houses, so people were unable to get to their parking areas without long delays (if at all).
It’s very frustrating but - in all honesty - it was worse 18 months ago.
I’m sure things will change once the Council “takes control” of the area and construction moves further away.
Meanwhile I think we should do everything we can to make sure that the plans in place for that time are as good as they can possibly be, and - perhaps - to encourage the QUVL or the Police to try to discourage the really thoughtless folks who make things dangerous for residents, pedestrians and children.
July 1st, 2008 at 4:41 am
Interesting views. But where will the space for these extra parking spaces come from?
The green areas, parks?
I for one would rather like to keep the green areas as they make the whole village look rather nice, and not like the alternative, which would be a car park.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:00 am
Ahhh… therein lies the problem.
I don’t see too many options but perhaps part of the solution lies in looking very closely at the eventual restrictions and combining carefully planned stretches of unresticted spaces with more active enforcement to discourage those who regularly flout the rules and cause the biggest hazards.
I too find the trees and green areas very attractive indeed and would really hate to lose them.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 am
“I don’t see too many options but perhaps part of the solution lies in looking very closely at the eventual restrictions and combining carefully planned stretches of unresticted spaces with more active enforcement to discourage those who regularly flout the rules and cause the biggest hazards.”
I agree with this, I don’t see how extra parking is going to be created for the houses already built. It is down to the builders, you see 3-4 bedroom houses with one parking space, it just doesn’t work. Most people have 2 cars these days, and it is all very well saying park in the garage, but some garages aren’t big enough to fit a car in and open the door.
I also wonder if some of these people have any common sense, either that or just don’t think about others. The number of people who park on the roundabout into Thatham or on the corner of Chivenor is crazy. How do they expect people to see what is coming?
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:57 am
Hi Flumper,
Im afraid i dont agree on the small garage front. it is simply down to being able to drive carefully. I have a neighbour who regularly puts his very large pickup in his garage, and i used to park a very wide sports car in my garage without any issues. I really do believe this is purely down to laziness..
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Well maybe its down to developers. There is no way my Father in Law can get his jeep in his garage and be able to get out of it and he is a good driver, yet we can get both of our cars in our garage, should we want to (one is usually on the drive btw).
But I have to say you probably are right, it is laziness - as with Woodvale, where they couldn’t be bothered to drive around and park at the back.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:03 am
I dont have many issues living on the Kingsway but I do with Parking. It makes me quite irate so I wont say too much.
My suggestion for Woodvale would be to have several lay-bys cut into the grass verges for parking of vehicles, very much like the one by the lights on the left-hand side which is for service vehicles only.
This would ease the parking situation. But something else will crop up then - lol
July 6th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I whole heartedly agree with cac. Only today I had a near miss with a car as I turned into Halton Way because of inconsiderate parking. Although the driver of the oncoming car was also quite arrogant and gave me no time to reverse out of her way, she just kept driving at me!
So I called the police to report the parked car. A very nice Community Police Officer came to my house, but as usual he could do nothing about how the person had parked, because it was not technically illegal, just inconsiderate.
So if the police cannot do anything I think we are in the hands of the inconsiderate and thoughtless. Until, like cac says an accident happens.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Obviously the parking issue is not going to be resolved quickly, until the roads are adopted by highways, (that could be quite sometime in the future). We are all concerned about it regardless of which road we live in/travel on and hopefully the new Residents Association will help to raise the profile of these issues as a collective instead of individual voices.
There has to be some compromise in the meantime and it would be a start for residents to try and make it a bit safer by being considerate when parking. If you have spaces allocated use them or just think about the problems it causes by parking on corners which then makes blind spots, leading to so many near misses. Yes there are problems with the developers but surely it is our responsibility to help make our village a safe place.
I attended the Residents Association meeting and it was really good to see so many turn up, lets hope the attendence continues, thats how stuff gets sorted. I think that some of the residents who attended do need to bear in mind that all involved - whether it is the Residents Association or the Parish Council - are volunteers giving up their time for free, and hence do not deserve to get abuse. As one lady said "we are all adults". Surely we are all working together on this one, and remember that it takes time for changes to happen, it will not change overnight but everyone can keep working on it.