Parking
Parking Planning (updated) Litter (updated) Beyond Lakenheath Village (updated)	There are several things that have led to the problems we have with parking. Firstly there is the layout of the village itself with the most visited places – the Coop, the Corner Shop, village Halls, CJs and the Surgery - all on the same road. For the most part High Street should be wide enough to allow some parking but at busy times it will never be enough. We do have a Car Park but it is not fully used, and the Coop, the Zebra crossing and the Wings Rd junction are within a few feet of each other. Where there are houses, there are few off-road parking arrangements and cars and vans are frequently parked on the pavement, usually without obstructing pedestrians but not always. Off the High St, multiple vehicle ownership and lack of off-road parking mean that pavements and verges become the norm for parking in some places. I know it’s not just Lakenheath -Eriswell has a similar problem at the Earlsfield shops on the roundabout – but that doesn’t make it alright. Is anyone to blame? Well, putting the Zebra Crossing on a junction couldn’t really be called the brightest move and of course the drivers are responsible. The Coop has grown but  hasn’t made any provision of its own for customer parking. But we are where we are with a problem which apart from anything else presents a real danger. So what can be done? Actually there are a number of things. The Neighbourhood Planning Group is going to commission a Government funded piece of work to look at the layout and look of the middle of the village. There are limited options because we can’t reroute traffic and there isn’t a handy piece of land next to the Coop that could be converted into a car park. However I am fairly sure that as a start, a pelican crossing rather than the Zebra would at least make it safer. Up to now Suffolk County Council have not had the appetite or the money to do anything about the repeated calls from the Parish Council and others. Lots of people don’t like it, but I also think CCTV round there is a must; not only for parking issues but to provide evidence of the near misses on the crossing that so many of us have experienced.  I don’t want to churn over the history of the PCSO, but for those who aren’t aware we were going to have a PCSO but then parking enforcement got transferred to West Suffolk and we weren’t going to spend £38K on ‘enhancing the Police profile’ for them. But the transfer presented an opportunity which frankly West Suffolk threw away. We said how about we employ someone that you train and look after the parking side, and we can do a deal on any fines? I am afraid that after constantly saying they’d get back to us nothing has happened. To the best of my knowledge the West Suffolk parking team have been here once, and probably gave up because if they are seen, people don’t park in the wrong place. It’s sad but true that at the moment poor parking is rewarded. Nobody gets fined (or licence endorsed for parking on the ZigZags) so go for the easiest and save yourself a couple of minutes!  If I do get elected that is one situation which will definitely change!
All site content © Gerald Kelly 2023