Tooley Street Red Route

So the coaches come and park on Queen Elizabeth St too? That's in a Southwark Council CPZ isn't it?

We need to think about where they should park ('cause they're going to park somewhere). Didn't there used to be a coach park behind Lambeth College? Has this problem arisen since that was closed? Can you think of anywhere they could be redirected to?

Fiona

Yes it has been a growing problem on QES for 20 years and has become intolerable! Even when the coach park existed there were drivers who did not want to pay. Inevitably it's got worse since the coach park closed. The impact of that closure obviously wasn't well planned for. I really can't think of an alternative place for them to go. It does seem another example of "well we need the revenue from tourists and too bad local residents don't like it". The message is emphatically we don't like it , we are fed up with being ignored and let down in equal measure by those who exist to look after our interests.

I arrive home at 13:40 to find a Tour Coach from Eastbourne parked at the end of Weavers Lane. As I don't have a pen or camera I fail to get it's registration details however a Red Route Traffic Warden's Fiesta W351UGW(containing three wardens) pulls up in front of the coach and sounds its horn. The driver of the Tour Coach waves his arms as if to swat a fly. The Fiesta sits for less than a minute then drives off, the Tour Coach sits for a further two minutes while his passengers embark and then it too drives off. Two minutes later Tour Coach 2448RU stops on the pelican crossing and disgorges its passengers before driving off. Lorry W454HGV then parks at the end of Weavers Lane and the driver goes for a wander.

The above makes a mockery of all statements by the 'authorities' I have copied onto this thread.

Parking enforcement views wanted

This item on the BBC News site caught my attention:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4173534.stm

How many of us would need to complain about parking enforcement in SE1 for them to take note?

I guess we're talking a 7 digit number but it's worth a try...

The direct link to the site is http://www.alg.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=15034&cat=980

Our ref: SM002112/8
Date: 05 September 2005



Dear Mr Jorgensen,

Red Route Enforcement in Tooley Street

Thank you for your e-mail of 19 August 2005. I appreciated your further comments.

I am sorry that you feel the enforcement in Tooley Street is not tackling the issue of illegal parking.

Your query was investigated at management level within our Enforcement Division and I am now able to advise you of the following:

This area has been the subject of significant attention and additional resources have been deployed in the area this year. To date 568 penalty charge notices have been issued by Transport for London (TfL) to motorists observed contravening the red route parking regulation. This represents a significant increase in our enforcement activities, one that I hope you will agree, demonstrates our commitment to parking enforcement issues in the Tooley Street area.

I understand that you feel concerned that coach drivers park on the red route to allow passengers to board, however there is a bus stand near to the junction with Weavers Lane which allows coaches to set down and pick up it's passengers. As mentioned in our previous response, our on-street staff have been asked to pay particular attention to this location.

I hope that this information will help to clear up any misunderstandings.

Once again thank you for taking the time to write to us. If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,



Ngozi Okoro
Customer Services Advisor
TfL - Streets

Paul,

Can you post the text of your email of 19 August that this guy is responding to. Or send it to me via a private message if you want. I want to see how well he has actually addressed the questions you may have asked in your email.

Cheers,

Andrew

Hey Andrew, I think it may be the frustrated message which I posted on 19th August. I'm so sick of those coaches that I blast off Emails to all and sundry in the hope of a reaction/action and occaisionally fail to send a copy to my Sent Messages file, there's certainly nothing in that file and I do recall copying the mesage to various bodies.

Paul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think it may be the frustrated message which I posted on 19th August.

Oh well. Not to worry. If you get around to sending a request for information along the lines of what I suggested in my post of 18 August, it would be worth keeping a copy of that and the response.

I found this on icsouthlondon.co.uk



One law for tourists ... Aug 19 2005


I WONDER if the officers of Transport for London (TfL) who are out in the streets of London need glasses.

They have taken away the bus bays on most of the London streets that enabled the buses to get out of the line of traffic and make it safer for the passengers to get on and off the buses.

They have made the pavements wider when there was no need to. In rush hour traffic clogs up the traffic flow because, since the bombings, people have gone back to using their cars to get into central London.

This is even with the increased congestion charge and the lack of parking in central London. When Ken Livingstone reduced the travel prices on the buses it encouraged commuters to leave their cars and use public transport.

We all know tourists are now the lifeblood of London for the money they spend while they are visiting our capital city, but why must there be one parking law for their drivers and another for our residents?

If commuting car drivers were to park for as much as six hours in the bus lanes on the Victoria Embankment, like the visiting coach drivers do, then they would have their cars clamped and/or towed away with massive fines imposed. I have seen as many as 15 coaches parked in the bus lane opposite the Embankment fire headquarters which caused the buses to let their passengers get off into the flow of rush-hour traffic. Why does TfL not impose fines to dis-courage this illegal coach parking? Name withheld on request l l Transport for London was considering its response as we went to press.