No idea whatsoever

These are from mid sept, just some photos of some vehicles encountered on a traverse of the city, from Monty to the Triangle.

#1: Upper Cheltenham Place 16:02, September 9.


There's a car in the middle of the road; it's go belongings in the back including a childs seat. A PCSO is looking in it. Left hand side of the vehicle is pretty bashed up. No other vehicles "unusally" bashed. No skid/ABS marks. Other than the PCSO, nobody is paying any attention.

@2: Nugent Hill, 16:15, September 9.


A car is on the pavement/build-out on Nugent Hill. Both sides of the car are bashed, the gap between them suspiciously as wide as the gap between the two cast iron bollards just in front of the vehicle.

Again, nobody around. This one looks exactly what you'd get when you were parked on the hill, the handbrake wasn't on (+wheels not turned, engine not left in gear), and the car rolled down the hill. If that' the case, at least it didn't hut anyone or any other vehicle. Provided the engine hasn't been damaged/pushed into the passenger compartment, then the VW polo should already be up and running by now.

Overall then: the background hum of bodywork repairs which keeps the city alive.

Ticketing: its for your own good

Here in St Andrews Road, Montpelier, we are shocked to see two cars getting tickets for being slightly on the pavement

slightly shocked, but not completely surprised. As there is almost enough space for someone to walk by on the inside

That will hinder passing traffic

And as can be seen here on upper Cheltenham Place, if you don't get fully on the pavement, you get to pay the wingmirror tax.

Note that vehicles in these photos include a fiat, a VW and at least one Vaxhall Astra -built in the UK to a German design.

Now that Cameron has finally stood up to the European oppressors with their plans for friendship and co-operation across countries, we hope that the owners of these vehicles will recognise the error of their ways and buy morris minors. Say goodbye to vehicles that start every morning! Say goodbye to driving over 60 mph on the motorway! these are un-British!

Where are the 20 mph zones they promised?

Someone posted us this video complaining that it shows a car driver unable to think ahead, because the driver overtook a bicycle aggressively on the way into Montpelier, whereas everyone knows that you only put your foot down on the way out. The tax-dodger not only ended up being held up by the Audi YY03YGM, they had to drop down Brook Hill, sprintg along Upper Cheltenham Place and then squeeze past the car on Picton Street blocking the road with the hazard lights on, while the Audi was still stuck on York Road negotiating rights of way with whatever was coming from the other direction.

We feel that the whole incident documents a more fundamental problem. The 20 mph zone isn't delivering what was promised.

The opening sequence shows how a bicycle doing 18 mph held up the car, but as soon as they go a little above 20 mph to get past them, there's another oncoming bicycle before the blind zig-zags. Even the bicycle video documents the other problems: the pedestrian and their dog on Brook Hill, the two bicycles on Upper Cheltenham Place, the two kids playing with a Pogo Stick in the road -our road- at 1:14, and then another bicycle. At least the car with the hazard lights on has paid for the right to be there.

Where are the 20 mph zones? The signs show them, but the car would have been lucky to have an average speed of 10 mph across the entire journey. We were promised 20 mph limits, yet it only takes one or two people walking, cycling or even pogo-sticking around and you brought screeching to a halt. We have been betrayed.

Dangerous and inconsiderate

Some denunciations of random cyclists who got in the way of our drive across the city on a foggy day where they should have recognised the safety issues and stayed at home.

First, this one on Kingsdown Parade. It's too narrow to pass, and if I were to knock my wing mirror off, do you think he'd pay up? Unlikely.

Incidentally, up on Fremantle Square the PRSC had stuck some art, fortunately it's gone now.

Now down to Upper Cheltenham Place, Monty. We won't cover how to get from Kingsdown to Monty in a car, except to note that neither of the good options - Nugent Hill or Marlborough Hill- are technically legal. We remember the old days, when you could drive from Fremantle Square down Ninetree Hill, then tuck into Stokes Croft. Now you are forced to break the law.

At least these people have realised it is better to walk than cycle. But where do they walk? In our roads. And they smirk as they do it.

Persecution in Monty: beware of what you ask for

M741UFC, sporting a ticket from the police for blocking the pavement and a door in Upper Cheltenham Place.

We've seen that door blocked by cars before; they must be grateful that the police are issuing tickets, so finally they can get their "bike, buggies or Kayak" in and out their house.

Except, well, isn't that a kayak roof rack? In which case the vehicle that's been given a ticket for blocking a door is not some random Monty resident, it could well belong to the resident of the house whose door has been blocked. Oops.

Polite Note

A car in Upper Cheltenham Place, Montpelier, has a note on its windscreen.

What does it say?

When you park here please pull right
up to the telegraph pole. In order that I
can get in and out my home with my
bike, buggies or Kayak.

Its probably honest, pragmatic, and may produce enough guilt for the driver to consider following the request. But what it does not produce is fear, not for the driver of P583HAN. Kayaks? Bicycles? Baby Buggies? Nothing to fear from those.

No, better to say something like "It is very hard to get my chainsaws and hunting rifles in and out of the house without damaging your car. This upsets my son, who, being on remand for attempted murder, does not need to get upset. Please park in a way which does not cause more problems ofr my household?

The danger-mums of Montpelier

Look at these women. They are pushing their children down the middle of some Montpelier roads. First, Upper Cheltenham Place.

Next: Cobourg Road.

Some readers may complain that although they are walking down the roads, they are not wearing high-viz clothing, and none of the babies in the push chairs have helmets.

But it is worse than that. These mums are actually pushing their children around the city! On foot! They would be much safer driving them in a family-friendly 4x4 vehicle.

You would never see mothers this irresponsible in Clifton.

Pavement Blockweed

I have an allotment. Keeping the weeds under control requires prompt and regular attention: failure to deal with weeds can make them extremely hard to eradicate, and many spread rapidly, popping up suddenly in other places due to fast growing underground suckers.
Vehicle parking seems to have parallels: This is Upper Cheltenham Place, Montpelier prior to 'pavement blockweed action day'

As detailed on this blog the aggressive attack on this 'pavement blockweed' led to weed free pavements (below)



....though neither bike nor pedestrian have adjusted to the new weedfree space and prefer to use the road. The pedestrian in particular seems to be wandering in a state of shock)

The purge lasted for around 10 days, then as always the green shoots reappeared...


and in three weeks it was fully regrown.

The local police unit are no doubt doing their best but the growing season is upon us:
it takes a lot of resources to keep weeds under control. On neighbouring Ashley Road, patrolled by a different police unit, a lack of weeding over the winter has allowed the pavement blockweed to take hold in several places:


This weed W659VGC has been allowed to take root here for five days without any attempt to uproot it. Possibly this is the front garden of the flats next to the pelican crossing but fortunately hasn't yet spread onto the zigzags, which are there for the safety of those crossing the road.
Similar weeds (Y403WDO) have taken root outside the Criterion pub -the manager clearly isn't a gardener.





We do not resource the police to do pavement weeding more than occasionally, which is why we also pay the council to do it. Bizarrely, some people have been complaining that Bristol City Council Parking Services are completely useless at dealing with this problem. Really? Seriously? Obviously, its the Allotment office we should be calling.
So what are the options?
The traditional approach is to spray with chemicals: Not for me, I prefer organic approaches, but in weeding terms that means dig it out. No thanks.
I like the permaculture approach: call it a 'Pavement Blockweed Control Workshop'.
All you have to do is provide free cider, decide to work with nature instead of against it and watch your friends cover it with fruit bushes, comfrey and nasturtiums.
Sorted!

Ten Days that shook montpelier

We've been tracking what's happening since the police ticketed cars for parking in Montpelier. The answer is: it's taken ten days for the needs of the locals to overcome their fear of persecution and reclaim their pavements for cars.


We last saw this golf M554KAA, with a ticket on its windscreen for being parked in exactly the same place as it is now. It has reclaimed its place on the pavement -it will not be intimidated!

Why hasn't the Evening Post picked up on this persecution? When will it come out and support the motorists, the one's who really pay the taxes in this city?

The Troubles comes to Upper Cheltenham Place

The police ticketing of vehicles extends to more than just one taxi making it hard for passing cars, they have also visited the pavement of Upper Cheltenham Place.

This van T138RTA will go down in history as a vehicle to get a ticket purely for completely blocking the pavement of a quiet back road.

Where else is there to park a van in this area?

Similarly, the golf M554KAA which is always positioned here now gets to pay £30 for the right -a number which, amusingly, is not that far off the proposed annual residents parking fee had the area voted to become an RPZ.

It is going to be interesting to go by next week, next month, to see if there's been any change in driver behaviour, or whether it is an aberration.

Meanwhile, over in Brislington, residents are requesting police enforcement of parking and yellow-hatched-junctions. This is a dangerous trend.

Crackdown on Montpelier parking

Montpelier is a special place in Bristol. Lovely buildings, fun people, shared streets where parents can happily push their children to nursery along the roads. Here the polis are trying to break this status-quo up by putting signs up to discourage pavement parking. They have started on one road, Brook Hill, with this new sign

"Police Warning
It is illegal to park causing obstruction to the footpath or highway.
Any vehicles committing these offences will be issued a fixed penalty notice and removed.
Owners will be liable for cost of recovery"

Does it work? Well, there are no cars on one side of this narrow road.

Compared to those roads off it, like Upper Cheltenham Place

And Cobourg Road

This could be viewed as a success. Unfortunately, we have no photographs in our datacentre showing any vehicles parking on this side of Brook Hill -it has not come to our attention, presumably because anyone doing so would make the street impassible and create trouble in the streets.

Yet there must have been enough of a pavement parking problem on Brook Hill for it to merit a sign, or the police have been pressured to do something about the Montpelier Problem, and chose the least controversial location. We encourage contributors to keep an eye on it for a few weeks to see if the street remains clear, then try taking it down to see if cars return. Better yet, try moving to a different street to see if it has any effect on those streets.

How many cars?

How many cars does it take to render a pavement unusable? One

This montpelier road almost has a pavement that works. In many ways that's unusual: many of the roads -Richmond Road, St Andrews Road, only have pavements that are visible to archaeologists that dig under the layers of cars. Presumably if they go deep enough they will find the roman-era roads, roads that will show that the natives parked their horse and carts half off the road.

From a pedestrian perspective, any number of cars more than zero means the pavement is broken. You can't go along it. If you are blind: bump. If you are in a wheel chair, problems. And if you have a push-chair its on road.

But that's OK. Because its a quiet road. The narrow bits wil force the cars to slow down. And there's no need for the police to enforce cycle on pavement rules here. Indeed, we suspect if anyone were to attend the PACT police-community meets here, it won't be bikes on pavements that people will be complaining about.

The DVLA hits montpelier

This is York Road, Montpelier, with three cars clamped for non-payment of road tax. Well, the government needs cash. Lots of it. And as road tax isn't dedicated to car driver facilities, the way driver pressure groups demand, the government is free to divert the cash to nationalising banks and other emergency actions. A lot of cars are going to need to pay their tax for that, so we are fortunate that the DVLA vans are driving the back streets of Bristol, clamping one car

And another

And one more.

That must have made their quota for the hour.



From a data mining perspective, it means that vans are driving round doing a number plate scan and database lookup for every car they pass. What happens to that data? We here the police saying that ANPR will deny criminals the motorways, but is a secret goal to deny people who are four weeks late to pay their road tax the right to park on a Montpelier pavement?

Clamping cars has some major benefits over towing. Its much cheaper: a single van can have a stack of clamps it can roll out, tagging a whole street in half an hour. It also serves as a visible deterrent: everyone who sees the cars sees that you can't park here with UK car without a valid tax disk. They learn. And so together we provide enough money to keep the banking system afloat for another 48 hours.

It's poignant these pics were taken on the same day that the council cancelled its car towing contract. Without anything resembling a functional parking services organisation, the tow company was pulling in cash without having to do any work. And even when they did tow a car away, they weren't providing a visible deterrent: they were creating a new parking space. Maybe it's time to move on and come up with a viable plan.