Parking mad

Let me translate this sign for you. It says that this is a parking zone that has no use other than to make the council money.

It indicates a newly created zone that covers a large area north of Bristol city centre. If you are 'fortunate' enough to live within it you pay something like £30 for an annual permit that lets you park there within the hours indicated.

If, like me, you live a few yards outside the zone, you cannot park your car there during those hours unless you fancy a hefty fine. We now have to park our car about a mile-and-a-half away from our home.

The residents were polled on whether they wanted the scheme and, of the 565 people (18 per cent of the area's population) who bothered to reply, 253 (44.8 per cent) agreed, while 268 (47.4 percent) disagreed.

It nevertheless came into force four weeks ago, but only 40 per cent of eligible residents have applied for permits, there are empty spaces all over the area in daytime, while streets outside the zone are so busy drivers queue for spaces to become available.

You have to ask yourself how this scheme could be perceived to be helping local residents. If you work away from the area you will only park your car there at night, so the scheme is an irrelevance. If you have to park your car in the area during daytime you have to pay for the privilege.

I'd love to see the graffiti guys use their skills on the city council building to thank our elected representatives for their efforts.