Post by Dave on May 25, 2009 11:26:47 GMT
Bye Bye NCP and please don't ever come back to Torbay, yes our mayor has finally woke up and worked out that Torbay is a tourist resort and one that should be doing all it can to get visitors to come and spend money here.
I have only ever had one parking ticket during my 37 years driving on our roads and that you may remember was given in Staples car park as I could not park anywhere else and needed to be in the Ricky Grant Unit as Carol was having chemotherapy.
I have no problems with those who think its OK to park where ever they like getting parking tickets, but what we have seen in Torbay over the last five years has been a system that was just based on cash generation.
Mind you we have been fed the same old line time after time that it was only ever about congestion and not raising money, but sorry I never bought that very weak argument.
Poor and misleading signage in prominent places such as the seafront has seen 30 visitors to the Bay on the seafront alone leave with a very bad taste in their mouth. god knows how many per day in total it has been and I have talked to many on my travels in my job and know they have vowed never to return.
People just two minutes late back to a car park has seen then having a ticket put on their car and a nice fine to pay, I for one have refused to use car parks in Torbay as there are times when you may get held up and it has not been your fault. You know that if that was to happen then it is going to cost you dear.
I have had many words with NCP staff when I have watched them give tickets unfairly, before the right hand side of Torbay road was marked out as loading bays they had a field day there with van drivers. That road often had 20 blue badge holders parked on lines for three hours.
I have watched as one such car had driven off after the three hours were up and a van driver pulled into the space to make a delivery to a local shop. Out he jumps and loads a few boxes onto a sack truck. Only to find a ticket on his van when he returned as there had been no activity at the rear of his van for four minutes.
How can he have caused any more congestion in the five minutes it took him to make his delivery than the car that had been parked there for three hours.
I also sadly do not shop in any of the Bay towns unless I have no choice, apart form the real risks of getting parking tickets, most streets now have on street parking meters. At a time when shops need all the trade they can get such moves are in my mind very foolish and Nick Bye should start to listen to the real concerns of our local traders.
How he was allowed to put meters on Paignton seafront and ones that can only be used in the winter months I do not know. That road is closed to cars during the summer months and now the locals who have enjoyed just parking up on a Sunday winters afternoon to sit and enjoy watching the sea, now have to pay for the privilege.
This NCP crew were hiding near such places as buildings used to run a brownie group, mums pulling up at 8pm to collect their children safely were getting tickets for stopping just for a few minutes. The blood bank was booked as was the Reliant Prison Vans who could not park in the Bay outside the court and parked as closely as they could, yes on the lines but they do have prisoners that need to be got into court as safely as possible.
The council of Torbay were very much to blame for all this, having to pay out over £600.000 per a year and the large costs of providing the NCP a base to operate from, was always going to create the need to get the NCP to stick tickets on anything they could and it has been the case that there has been a complete zero tolerance and no common sense used at anytime.
Nick Bye has gone on record saying that we are a tourist resort and things have been well over the top on parking enforcement, now he has the chance to show for once he has listened to the people of Torbay and ensure that when it goes in house next march, that the new wardens use common sense and not be looking to make as much money as possible for the local council.
I sadly do not trust a word Nick Bye says, he has shown before he can't be trusted and he will do what ever he wants to do, you only need to look at the ugly balloon to know he will not let anything stand in the way if he has made up his mind.
He has given us nothing since he became mayor, not listened to the people and has wasted so much money of his vision and I have yet to see just one part of that happen in the Bay.
What I have seen is the streets getting even more dirty, the whole Bay looking more and more shabby by the day, I have seen our once great Rock Walk turned into Wreck Walk and that ugly balloon on our seafront.
I wanted a mayor as I thought it would bring the much needed changes to Torbay, sadly Bye has delivered nothing of his promises, the problem is we are stuck with an elected mayor until 2019. The good news is his time in office is running out and I hope next time we can get a man who only wants to really make a real difference here in Torbay and spend our money on the important things that the Bay residents care about.
Getting the Bay looking smart is the first and most important thing in my book, we can then move on and look what else needs to be improved, far better than all the waste Bye creates on what is fast looking like no more than his dreams.
I have only ever had one parking ticket during my 37 years driving on our roads and that you may remember was given in Staples car park as I could not park anywhere else and needed to be in the Ricky Grant Unit as Carol was having chemotherapy.
I have no problems with those who think its OK to park where ever they like getting parking tickets, but what we have seen in Torbay over the last five years has been a system that was just based on cash generation.
Mind you we have been fed the same old line time after time that it was only ever about congestion and not raising money, but sorry I never bought that very weak argument.
Poor and misleading signage in prominent places such as the seafront has seen 30 visitors to the Bay on the seafront alone leave with a very bad taste in their mouth. god knows how many per day in total it has been and I have talked to many on my travels in my job and know they have vowed never to return.
People just two minutes late back to a car park has seen then having a ticket put on their car and a nice fine to pay, I for one have refused to use car parks in Torbay as there are times when you may get held up and it has not been your fault. You know that if that was to happen then it is going to cost you dear.
I have had many words with NCP staff when I have watched them give tickets unfairly, before the right hand side of Torbay road was marked out as loading bays they had a field day there with van drivers. That road often had 20 blue badge holders parked on lines for three hours.
I have watched as one such car had driven off after the three hours were up and a van driver pulled into the space to make a delivery to a local shop. Out he jumps and loads a few boxes onto a sack truck. Only to find a ticket on his van when he returned as there had been no activity at the rear of his van for four minutes.
How can he have caused any more congestion in the five minutes it took him to make his delivery than the car that had been parked there for three hours.
I also sadly do not shop in any of the Bay towns unless I have no choice, apart form the real risks of getting parking tickets, most streets now have on street parking meters. At a time when shops need all the trade they can get such moves are in my mind very foolish and Nick Bye should start to listen to the real concerns of our local traders.
How he was allowed to put meters on Paignton seafront and ones that can only be used in the winter months I do not know. That road is closed to cars during the summer months and now the locals who have enjoyed just parking up on a Sunday winters afternoon to sit and enjoy watching the sea, now have to pay for the privilege.
This NCP crew were hiding near such places as buildings used to run a brownie group, mums pulling up at 8pm to collect their children safely were getting tickets for stopping just for a few minutes. The blood bank was booked as was the Reliant Prison Vans who could not park in the Bay outside the court and parked as closely as they could, yes on the lines but they do have prisoners that need to be got into court as safely as possible.
The council of Torbay were very much to blame for all this, having to pay out over £600.000 per a year and the large costs of providing the NCP a base to operate from, was always going to create the need to get the NCP to stick tickets on anything they could and it has been the case that there has been a complete zero tolerance and no common sense used at anytime.
Nick Bye has gone on record saying that we are a tourist resort and things have been well over the top on parking enforcement, now he has the chance to show for once he has listened to the people of Torbay and ensure that when it goes in house next march, that the new wardens use common sense and not be looking to make as much money as possible for the local council.
I sadly do not trust a word Nick Bye says, he has shown before he can't be trusted and he will do what ever he wants to do, you only need to look at the ugly balloon to know he will not let anything stand in the way if he has made up his mind.
He has given us nothing since he became mayor, not listened to the people and has wasted so much money of his vision and I have yet to see just one part of that happen in the Bay.
What I have seen is the streets getting even more dirty, the whole Bay looking more and more shabby by the day, I have seen our once great Rock Walk turned into Wreck Walk and that ugly balloon on our seafront.
I wanted a mayor as I thought it would bring the much needed changes to Torbay, sadly Bye has delivered nothing of his promises, the problem is we are stuck with an elected mayor until 2019. The good news is his time in office is running out and I hope next time we can get a man who only wants to really make a real difference here in Torbay and spend our money on the important things that the Bay residents care about.
Getting the Bay looking smart is the first and most important thing in my book, we can then move on and look what else needs to be improved, far better than all the waste Bye creates on what is fast looking like no more than his dreams.