THIS BRISTOL PETITION ENDS ON FRIDAY (TOMORROW)- No confidence in Mayor Ferguson

http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk/epetition_core/view/verybadmayor

See also
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bristol-brt2-route-ashton-avenue-bridge/page/12

Hmmm, based on the fact that that petition is about how anti-car Georgie is … where is the pro-George petition for me to sign?

“The residents parking scheme may ultimately see businesses closing for lack of customers, companies relocating because they are unable to get their staff into work and the general decline of house prices and the city’s wealth.”

LOL, what utter f**knugget posted that?! A decline in house prices and the city’s wealth would be most welcome, but obviously not to this Clifton muppet. Should force a few daft Clifton companies to move to the city centre where office space is far more easily accessible by public transport.

Good to see that petition closed. George is doing a pretty decent job. The the new parking in Clifton seems to be working well, too.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-residents-welcome-traffic-wardens-tea/story-21280743-detail/story.html

Interesting you say that – I spent last night sat next to a Clifton architect who mentioned his risk of losing staff as a result of them not being able to drive to work any longer.

That argument comes up a lot. It never actually happens as it is just a lot of talk. There are plenty of alternatives. What they mean is they now can’t park for free within 30 seconds of the office, not that they can no longer drive to work.

Edit – wrong thread, doh.

I live in redland where the new parking scheme has just gone in. It’s a complete joke. All it does is penalise those who take more sustainable forms of transport to work – I’m moving in a couple of months so have no desire to pay the council money to park on a public street near where I live, and so I have to park a five minute walk from there, clogging up the closest non-restricted street. When it’s raining or I have a lot of shopping or bike kit, which happens a lot, it’s a real pain in the ass. All the time I’ve lived there, there’s never been an issue with parking, always free spaces regardless of the time of day, right next to redland station.
Aside from the practicality of it, it’s also a security issue – I don’t use the van that much, but now that I don’t park near where I live, I don’t walk past it a couple of times per day, meaning it’s far harder to check it’s all good and would mean it would take a lot longer to discover if it has been broken into or stolen.
The parking scheme is a money making scheme dressed up as an environmental one. It’s **** bollocks.

I’m moving in a couple of months so have no desire to pay the council money to park on a public street near where I live,

Personally, I think that a modest charge so it’s much easier to park on public land near your house is proportionate and well worth it.

Personally, I think that a modest charge so it’s much easier to park on public land near your house is proportionate and well worth it.

i’d imagine it’d be significantly cheaper than moving house as well, but he-ho.

I’m another supporter of Ferguson – and the transport agenda he’s pursuing. He’s the best calibre of leader Bristol has had in at least a generation.

There’s no doubt that the parking scheme will be unpopular, but also that it’s effective in reducing the overall volume of cars. It was another reason for my family to go down from two to one cars.

I feel significantly safer cycling around town these days and really endorse the general pro-walking / cycling stuff that’s going on.

That all comes from a car-lover too.

There’s no doubt that the parking scheme will be unpopular, but also that it’s effective in reducing the overall volume of cars. It was another reason for my family to go down from two to one cars.

I feel significantly safer cycling around town these days and really endorse the general pro-walking / cycling stuff that’s going on.

Good for you. Actually, I had a couple of run-ins with idiot car drivers this week, but that’s the first time in absolutely ages. When I first cycle commuted in Bristol around ten years ago, it was practically a daily occurrence. Maybe it’s because there are so many more of us on bikes now.

There’s been similar parking schemes in Brighton for years and now a city wide 20mph limit.

Lots of people complain when they restrictions go in and some continue to complain afterwards but on the whole residents like being able to park in their own street and 20mph is more than you can do most of the time anyway so people just accept it and get on with life.

If Bristol’s going the same way then I can’t see it being a bad thing.

Ferguson’s support of BRT2 still has me a little confused but other than that I think he’s doing an excellent job of actually doing things to try and improve problems in the city but which most politicians aren’t willing to do because they may not be popular.

RPZ isn’t perfect (and I don’t think it should be being implemented in places that don’t currently have any parking issues) but for example, it’s made us much more likely to go to Clifton and spend money there now that we won’t drive around for 30 minutes looking for somewhere to park. My friends who live up there are also happy that they can actually park their cars too. Change is rarely easy and the problems some people have getting into their jobs are part of that but maybe some companies need to consider whether Clifton is actually the right place for them or their employees need to consider whether car shares are feasible.

The alternative is that things continue to get worse – we do have to think about whether everyone driving from miles outside cities into them to work is the right model overall.

I’m another supporter of Ferguson – and the transport agenda he’s pursuing. He’s the best calibre of leader Bristol has had in at least a generation.

+1

I continue to have considerable confidence in him.

I’m another supporter of Ferguson – and the transport agenda he’s pursuing. He’s the best calibre of leader Bristol has had in at least a generation.

^^This

Ferguson’s support of BRT2 still has me a little confused but other than that I think he’s doing an excellent job of actually doing things to try and improve problems in the city but which most politicians aren’t willing to do because they may not be popular.

Yep, BRT is an expensive white elephant. To be fair to the mayor, his hands are tied somewhat as the central government money paying for much of it specifies what sort of scheme it should be.

RPZ isn’t perfect (and I don’t think it should be being implemented in places that don’t currently have any parking issues) but for example, it’s made us much more likely to go to Clifton and spend money there now that we won’t drive around for 30 minutes looking for somewhere to park.

I’m the same – perfectly happy to pay for parking (why should I be able to take up public land for free)as long as I can get a space reasonably close to the shops. I’ve never understood why the traders keep opposing RPZ – I would’ve thought easier parking would bring more punters in.

Studies tend to show that it does exactly that. I can understand the fear of the unknown to some extent but history tends to show that RPZ introduction follows exactly this pattern – fear, DOOM followed by implementation, some short term issues of dealing with change and then people get used to it and generally realise that at worst, it doesn’t make things worse. More often it improves.