Newstead residents Robert and Rosemary Vawdrey thought their woes over illegal parking in a laneway near their home were over when council responded to their concerns and painted “no parking” yellow lines in the Midvale Lane trouble spot earlier this year.
Council also took away the “No Standing” signs at the time, and that was okay with them too because the yellow lines said it all. Or so they thought.
Certainly the move had made their lives much easier over recent months. But that was until last week.
What happened then is best summed up in an email the Vawdreys sent to local councillor David Hinchliffe, who had helped them with their original complaints.
“It was with some consternation that we realised that last week two angle parking signs have been installed at the end of the lane, alongside the yellow lines,” they wrote.
“Does this mean you can park because the signage says so, or you can’t park because there are yellow lines, and if the former does that mean yellow lines are meaningless (which is exactly what the average illegal parker will think).
“We enclose a photo.(reproduced at left) I hope the situation will not return to the previous madness.”
Cr Hinchliffe told this paper: “Talk about mixed messages. I wonder whether this is some clever plot to confuse people and lull them into a false sense of parking security and then come along and fine them.
"Who knows what the Lord Mayor will do to get his hands on a bit more cash.”
