LETTER: Scrap parking permits to fund school patrols

This is blamed on the huge cuts to local councils from central government.

The solution to that is very simple. All Mr Neil Rodgers, service director for planning, transportation and highways has to do is to stop the ridiculous plan, that is now in the process, of making the areas of Balne Lane, Silcoates Street and Lincoln Street into permit holders-only parking, between the hours of 10am to 11am and 2pm to 3pm.

This idea will cost much more than the £200,000 that Wakefield Council says it costs to provide the free school crossing patrols. Then there is the question of which is the most important - protecting children from the traffic, or bringing permit parking into force? The permit parking is also totally inadequate for the problem that they are trying to solve.

The system is supposed to stop car drivers parking their cars in this area, and then walking up town to shop, or go to work up town. The idea is anyone who doesn’t live here who parks their cars in this area will have to take a break from work, between 10am and 11am and again at 2pm and 3pm and come to move their vehicles incase they get a ticket for illegal parking.

I would be very interested to know, who is going to police this parking problem, and how much is it going to cost?

It is obvious that some people have made a lot of complaints to the council because of the major parking problems that we have in this area. However, if the council officials dealing with this matter had taken the time to come and see the parking problems, they would have seen that the problems are not between these hours at all. During the times that the parking permits will be in force, there is plenty of room for short term parking. The parking problem starts when people are arriving home from work, or at the weekends, when people are at home.

During these times, there are far more cars than houses in the streets, and as most recently produced cars are as long as most of these house are wide, or very close to it. The problem is obvious. When you add on the distance required to be left between vehicles for manoeuvring either in or out of parking, then this just adds to the space required.

Whoever came up with this idea needs to start again, because the permit parking solution that they are proposing will not do anything to solve the problems at nights and weekends. The money would be far better spent on the school crossing patrols, or nearly anything else that requires a few bob spending on it - like the state of the road surface on Balne Lane, it’s disgustingly dangerous to cyclists and motor cyclists.

Ian Anderson, Lincoln Street, Wakefield