Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Driving for Wales
Assembly Members like to talk about transport issues. Normally, it is trains but occasionally we can waffle on about cars as well. Yesterday was such a day. On the agenda was the deregulation of parking in Conwy and naturally a number of members used the opportunity to reminisce about their own experiences.
Nobody is going to compete with the traffic warden who booked a speed camera van for obstruction and then reached a career pinnacle by giving a ticket to an empty hearse, that had been parked on the zig-zag lines of a pedestrian crossing whilst its driver got lunch. Still there were a number of members who were prepared to use the session as a sort of encounter group and confess all.
David Melding started off the trend in First Minister's questions:
David Melding: I must start by making a confession: I was done for speeding in 1989, which was before I started to drive a Skoda—[Laughter.]
It did not take long for Eleanor Burnham to follow suit:
Eleanor Burnham: I will declare an interest. About three years ago, I incurred the wrath of a Denbighshire parking attendant. That is not just my experience; it is the experience of many, and it drew my attention to many people’s plight. Hence my plea to local authorities.
Still she did have a very important point to make:
Eleanor Burnham: The Welsh Liberal Democrat group also supports the decriminalisation of parking and amendment 2. However, I make a plea, as I did in a North Wales Regional Committee meeting about six months ago, in respect of Denbighshire’s administration, that local authorities appoint parking officers who have sensitivity, so that they do not act in an aggressive and overpowering way to the detriment of local residents, local businesses and visitors alike.
Clearly, deregulation must go hand-in-hand with enccounter groups and counselling for Traffic Wardens to make them less fierce. Seriously though, it is an awful job that I would not like to do. Traffic Wardens are underpaid, abused, put-upon, not always supported by their superiors and often scapegoated for doing their job. In addition, I am told that the uniform is uncomfortable and shapeless. Perhaps deregulation can change all that.
Nobody is going to compete with the traffic warden who booked a speed camera van for obstruction and then reached a career pinnacle by giving a ticket to an empty hearse, that had been parked on the zig-zag lines of a pedestrian crossing whilst its driver got lunch. Still there were a number of members who were prepared to use the session as a sort of encounter group and confess all.
David Melding started off the trend in First Minister's questions:
David Melding: I must start by making a confession: I was done for speeding in 1989, which was before I started to drive a Skoda—[Laughter.]
It did not take long for Eleanor Burnham to follow suit:
Eleanor Burnham: I will declare an interest. About three years ago, I incurred the wrath of a Denbighshire parking attendant. That is not just my experience; it is the experience of many, and it drew my attention to many people’s plight. Hence my plea to local authorities.
Still she did have a very important point to make:
Eleanor Burnham: The Welsh Liberal Democrat group also supports the decriminalisation of parking and amendment 2. However, I make a plea, as I did in a North Wales Regional Committee meeting about six months ago, in respect of Denbighshire’s administration, that local authorities appoint parking officers who have sensitivity, so that they do not act in an aggressive and overpowering way to the detriment of local residents, local businesses and visitors alike.
Clearly, deregulation must go hand-in-hand with enccounter groups and counselling for Traffic Wardens to make them less fierce. Seriously though, it is an awful job that I would not like to do. Traffic Wardens are underpaid, abused, put-upon, not always supported by their superiors and often scapegoated for doing their job. In addition, I am told that the uniform is uncomfortable and shapeless. Perhaps deregulation can change all that.
