LETTER to the EDITOR

Dear Sir 

The style and presentation of The Resident have improved no end but, I fear, the content has failed to keep up and sometimes appears to be struggling to find something useful to put between the ads.. This is a shame when there is so much it could usefully do to help improve the quality of life in our town. Why not campaign on some of the issues that many feel strongly about but don’t know how to influence the various layers of local government? Here are some suggestions: 

1.      Pothole Alert. The state of many of our roads is appalling to the point of being dangerous – particularly to cyclists and motor-cyclists. Why not invite readers to report dangerous potholes that have been unreported for a long while. (I’ll start with one on the northbound carriageway of Stock Road approaching the King’s Head. It’s had a pretty red lines painted round it for months.) Maybe there could be a competition to find the deepest or longest unfilled pothole. 

2.      High Street Parking Before long the High Street seems likely to consist of nothing but places to eat and drink, estate agents and charity support shops if we are not careful. Part of the reason is the lunacy of the regime in the main public car-park behind Woolworths which acts as a disincentive to casual shoppers. Stop for ten minutes to buy a 70p newspaper and you have to pay the minimum parking charge of 50p – increasing the cost of the purchase by 71%. We should return to the system whereby the first half hour is free or, alternatively, there should be a scheme whereby shops refund the parking charge on purchases of, say, more than £5. 

3.      Lake Meadows Parking Many people are caught out and confused by the arcane system in operation at the car park by the swimming pool in Lake Meadows. Understandably there has to be a method of stopping train travellers from parking there all day. However, the present system whereby parking is free without the use of a ticket all day except for a short period in the afternoon when a ticket must be obtained from the swimming pool is lunatic. Many people who use the park habitually register that parking is free on the first occasion that they visit and it never occurs to them to refer to the notices on subsequent visits. If they should chance to park during the prohibited period they are quite surprised to get an expensive ticket. There has to be a better and fairer way. 

I am sure other readers will have other bees in their bonnets which could make worthwhile campaigns. 

Yours sincerely 

Andrew Papworth, Billericay

The views expressed in this letter are those of one person and it would be useful to the editor to know the opinion of other readers. Do they agree that the content has “failed to keep up”? Should the Association campaign on the issues the writer identifies or are there others more important? I look forward to receiving your comments. Editor