Am I alone in dreading a visit to the parking shop in Wood Green. It's easier (and pleasanter) to borrow money from a bank than buy a permit to park outside my own house!
Permalink Reply by Hugh on September 3, 2010 at 22:12
It used to be worse than a root canal, but to be fair someone's been in and cleaned up the act. The last time I was there it was all very civilised - no better or worse than a visit to the bank or post office.
It's not that bad really, the staff are quite friendly and even the security guard was rather helpful. The forms are easy to fill out and pretty self explanatory. As long as you take all the right docs with you its a breeze.... seriously :)
The only difficulty is if you drive there - there used to be a few free parking spaces down the side road by the Greek Orthodox church but last time I went they had been changed to residents only. I don't mind paying to park on a meter: the problem is knowing how long I'm going to have to be in there as sometimes there's a long queue.
This is a new discussion really , but I'd like to see a system of "Oyster" parking - you put your card in the meter when you arrive and get a ticket to show you have registered, then when you leave you re-insert it and are charged for the time you stayed. As long as you don't exceed the maximum time allowed, it leaves room for errors and hold-ups, as well as for getting back to your car way earlier than expected. Fairer all round, though perhaps not such a money-spinner as fining people who have gone five minutes over their meter payment, which has happened to me more than once.
Brilliant idea, Maddy! Has anyone been in another city or country where this type of system operates?
Though, I'd also like to see more common sense in setting the rates for parking charges. It's pointless having rows of Pay'n'Display bays nearby which are unused because there is much cheaper (or sometimes free) parking a short walk away.
I'm also curious about the strongly divergent opinions on the Parking Shop: Al and John McMullen on one hand; with Hugh and Saira on the other. In the past, most of the views I've heard about it have been critical: about the wait; having to produce the same documents people brought in before; and not being able to do more online. So if it has greatly improved I'm very pleased.
As for Post Offices . . . doesn't that depend on where you live? Perhaps if Tony Blair had had to use a local post office like the one opposite Bruce Grove he wouldn't have been quite so keen on privatisation.
Permalink Reply by Hugh on September 4, 2010 at 23:19
Are you sure about that Saira? Great news if they have made this possible, but I've just checked the parking permits page on the Council's website and I can't see an online option. Am I just missing the obvious?