Parking Wardens
 

Does anyone actualy think they have a positive impact on our town? After all it's our town, and I havn't met many people in favour of them. We need some sort of restrictions, I mean some places it's just plain obvious that people shouldn't be able to park. If it's a genuinly busy street which isn't wide enough to allow double parking and traffic flowing freely then of course this causes a nuisance. However I don't personaly see a problem with people parking on quiet streets like Dutton Street (Between Old mcdonalds and blockbuster), its close to town and helpfull for quick shoppers. I used this example simply because I already knew the parking rules (10am-4pm no parking).

I do not think that the way to tackle genuine parking problems (such as the narrow busy streets and bus stops etc) is to wham someone a £60 fine on their first offence, usualy without even talking to them about it, because we all know how sneaky the majority of parking wardens are. I've often seen them hiding behind other cars or buildings waiting until people have moved from their cars etc. To encourage the wardens to ticket cars by giving them bonuses only adds to this sort of ticketing. You may say "People shouldn't be parked there in the first place" but this is exactly why I am making this post, because half the time theres nothing wrong with someone stopping there for a while.

In the great scheme of things, the £60 fine is just taking money from people who are quite possibly otherwise law abiding citizens. If you put that in line with antisocial behaviour and such, these people mostly get nothing, because they're not an easy target like a parked car.

I have started a poll because I want to know just how many people think they have a positive inpact on our town. I noticed one on the parkwise website where 94% of people disagreed with "Has Parkwise made a positive difference to improve the flow of traffic in your area ?".

Ps. Who is it that has control over parkwise, is it LCC or HBC?

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seen a few which have actually asked people to move there cars before they stampo a ticket on their cars so imo they seem to be ok...better than in alot of other places

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Due to the lack of a large parking area the exception being the Ardale shopping in the town can be a nightmare. Even if its just a fleeting visit you can still end up being late back if caught with something else to do. I my opinion the lack of close well lit easy parking is helping kill the shopping in Accy as when in town you are always concious of how long you have to shop and get back to the car. As people dont consider the Arndale carpark to be safe then if they need a lot of shopping they go elsewere so there is less pressure to return to their vehicle befor they are "zapped" with a ticket. Some of the wardens may be fair but what about the rest.

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It would be good if they try walking down Blackburn road and put a ticket on all the cars that use the pavment to park on instead of the road they would make a fortune i am sick of having to go round cars parked on the pavement

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What you've just said spuggie is that its not the traffic wardens keeping people away from the town but decent parking facilities. If you've got a street where half of it can be safely turned in to on street parking half hour bays then yes I agree, but if you don't have control, you end up with cars everywhere, every street will have parked cars on it.
Here the council controls the car parks, and tickets cars, but no one controls the streets so the safest place to park is on the double yellows, or the no waiting box.
It ruins the town, creates a cluttered feel to it, can reduce traaffic flow, block emergency vehicles, ambulances etc, can be dangerous for people crossing the road, and footpaths can get obstructed.
When I was there last I parked a mc donalds, it was the only car park I could see.
edit
There ya go, micks posted exactly my point while I was writing that. You'd have that all over if you didn't have them. Don't expect people to use common sense when parking cyfer, cos they don't

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I just eat them not park them:)

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the last time we visited accrington we parked in the multi car park,we tried to find one of those green time cards couldnt find one anywhere so we just went shopping well i think you could guess what happened yes we got a ticket,we then went to the town hall and complained but we still had to pay the fine of £10 otherwise if we we waited to see if our complaint wasnt successful we would have to pay £20,its not fair when your a visitor to the town and they dont have the cards availible,so much for improving tourism to the area but it prob happens everywhere with the lack of information

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What green time cards?
I thought the arndale was free parking, is it not?

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You need a disk to park at the Arndale. These are available from some of the shops but they frequently run out of them. I have one in the car somewhere and I was once fined even though I was displaying my disk. When I complained I was told to prove it......

I was livid and have never parked in town since. I'd only parked in town because I was called to assist at one of the local clinics... I would get on a bus and shop in Manchester rather than park in Accy..

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A disk? As an outsider comin in to accy I wouldn't know what the heck that was, how stupid, do they want to allienate tourists and visitors?
Whats wrong with pay and display.
I've travelled the country and I've never heard of having to have a disk

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Mick I wholeheartedly agree.........If you have a pram to push or a wheelchair, there is no way of getting past these cars unless you go into the road....definitely not safe.

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MH...the disks are free in the Arndale shopping centre. I did hear a rumour that the disk parking was set to be scrapped though.....I'm not sure what they will put in its place. Accrington is one of the few places where the town centre parking is free.....well, as long as you use your disk.

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absolutely stupid, why don't they just use ticket machines, like normal people.

AND it's not promoted that you have free parking, thats a real puller for a town that size. Its 80p an hour in Nuneaton

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Parking is FREE.......NO CHARGE....how many places can say that?

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Only because the cash is being collected by other means.

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With the green disks you have a time scale on it and you put on the time scale how long you want to park.....and as long as you don't go over the time you have estimated you are Ok......Having said that, we don't use the multi storey car park for a variety of reasons........one of them being that the ramps are quite steep and you can damage your vehicle if it is a low slung jobby.........another is that the parking spaces are narrow........and if you park over the line then you are very likely to get a ticket for parking in two bays.....so yes, it is free.....as long as you abide by the rules.

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Spuggie....by other means, do you mean parking fines?
I am sure that the council would accrue more revenue if they deciced to use Pay and Display....and even with this system you can still get a parking fine if you overstay....or if you park slightly outside your bay.

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Whats the point in a disk if you can set it to how long you want. just set it to all day and you won't go over. If I didn't know some of you I'd think this disk thing was a wind up.
Do you realise how sad it sounds. You get a green disk thing friom shops, if they have any left, then you go back to your and set it to what ever time you want, and it's free to park. What exactly is the disk for, what does it do. It doesn't provide a time limit because you said you can set it to what you like. Only thing is that if you don't have one, which most visitors won't you get fined.

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Interesting how many think your town would be better with parked cars all over the place, blocking access for people with push chairs and prams, blocking emergency vehicles.

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same happened to me in 2001 hadn,t lived in town for 6 years, and had just lost my missus, completly forgot about the disc, just nipped in went to specsavers was no more than 15mins came back and the guy was writing a ticket out, i explained the circs to him, was leaving back to spain next morning early doors, it was just after 4-00 town hall was shut, so i said can i pay you the £10 cos i,m not sure when i will be back, NO we are not allowed was the reply, so in a nutshell i wouldn,t P**S on these creeps if they were burning.

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When using the green disc on the arndale and other Accrington car parks you can only park for upto 3 hours. You set the disc at the time that you arrive and make sure that you are back at your car within 3 hours. OR you can have unlimited free parking on level 5 and 6 of the Arndale car park without a disc.
I have also heard or read that this system will be scrapped but that we will continue to have free parking.

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The disks have a 3 hour limit.....or they used to. You set the time that you arrived on your disk and the wardens give you 3 hours from that time. The disk is displayed in your windscreen. Rawtenstall have had this system for years, way before Accy did. I think that's probably where Accy got the disk idea from.

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i voted negative because they dont do their job properly

i have yet to see any parking violation punished along blackburn road or willows lane and by the councils own admition they gave up trying

the law is the law and just because people constantly break the law it dosnt mean they should be allowed to carry on doing it

perhaps if cars started getting clamped or towed away and crushed that would solve the problem

get tougher not softer

i am fed up of constantly having to wait because 2 cars decide to park up next to each other on the main road and have a leghthy discusion , i am fed up of having to manouver around cars parked dangerously on double yellow lines or at traffic lights on junctions

mind you the rules are soon enforced if you are so much as a minuite over your allowed parking time

get down blackburn road the council could make thousands in one day alone with all teh parking violations going on down there and if they dont pay vrush their bloody cars


guess whos just had to drive down blackburn road :D

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This is not what I voted negative for. In my original post I suggested that we should still have wardens stopping people parking in places where they really shouldn't, but that the majority of places its unnessesary, and the way its enforced is unfair.

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It's the bigger picture of trying to reduce traffic in the shopping streets. If you have no parking then you don't have people driving around, endangering pedestrians whilst looking for a space.

If you park on Dutton Street then the chances are you've driven along the pedestrian area which is supposed to be traffic free.

As for the car park, that's a different matter and I don't think the discs are a particularly good idea. People lose them or can't get one or forget - much better to have a ticket system of some sort i.e. collect a ticket as you go through a barrier then have traffic wardens going around fining people who stay longer than 3 hours and you wouldn't need a barrier for exiting. Could still keep free parking. It's probably down to cost though i.e. cost of replacing tickets vs cost of printing discs.

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got a ticket today... 15 mins over in disable bay with my son.... well talk about low:
the next time I see the traffic warden stuffing his face ... drinking coffee and smoking I will make sure I get it on camera this time....... back of the arndale centre:
also my son turned the badge the wrong way round once.... he wanted the chicks to see him.... I did not know this ( again got a fine )
wonder how he sleeps at night.... there moan over I know he's only doing his job : but it really no really makes my bloody boil:

:-)

Yone

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I can kind of understand this, though pedestrians shouldn't really be in danger, if they are then the driver dosn't really deserve to be on the road.

My grandma often used Dutton street until she was fined, she never goes through the pedestrian bit, can get there from Cannon street instead.

Although now you mention the bus only bit!... My dad got run over there a few years back, and the council have still done nothing about this area. The sign is pedestrians only, but I don't think its a legal sign, as in nobody can do anything about it... that or police officers are not doing their job as i've often seen them just walk on by as somebody comes flying through there in their car :(

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I've never used a disk to park in rawtenstall, and I parked there a lot last year.
does this mean parking restrictions are only in place while the shops are open?
I suggest your being conned by the council, it's a cheap way of time enforcing parking bays without having ticket machines or the warden checking number plates to get your parked time.

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No you don't. You put the time you arrive on the disk. You can then park for 3 hours I think it is. If you are seen with a disc set later than t he current time you will probably get a ticket.
The top 2 levels ( I think it is 2 ) are free all day with no disc. So if you have no disc park at the top. If you read and follow the instructions you will not get fined.
The whole idea of the disc scheme is to allow shoppers to park and to stop people who work in town filling up the car park, especially the bottom levels, which would leave less space for shoppers. It is a free car park for shoppers.

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Agree Neil, on every entrance to the multi storey there are full instructions on a massive board. If the drivers are too lazy to read them then its a stupidity tax not a parking fine. I'm also with Chav on teh idea of clamping/crushing those that park on Bburn rd near willows lane. It can be hard work getting past them all. however having said that, what genius at the council though putting those stupid parking bays in opposite a bus stop so when teh bus stops no one can pass it wants taking outside and shooting.

Yone, do you have a disabled badge? if not, then it is quite right that you were ticketed for parking in a disabled space, They aren't there for you to nip to the shop you know!

If I have one gripe about parking in accy, its the length of time you are allowed on side streets like Warner street. ATM its 1 hour, thats not enough to do a decent amount of shopping round the market. 2 hours would be a more reasonable amount. as it is I have found a quite little spot with no parking restrictions so I'm alright Jack! :D

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OK Neil...... so it isn't a time scale! That was the closest way i could think of to explain it.......but you have done it so much better. Glad to see you back........now what have you done with Garinda?

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Ah sorry should have made that more clear : Yes we do have a disabled badge for my son, who was with me at the time: another pet hate of mine people taking disabled parking spaces , that are not disabled:

Just seen the Warden ( now and almost got him my phone came with coffee in one hand and fag in the other...) wonder what the rules are on him smoking and drinking coffee whilst on duty:

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Should you have to have a disabled badge to be able to park in a disabled place though?
I carried on working delivering parcels to places such as front shops in tesco stores while I had a double hernia. The shops are at the front so I have to deliver through the shop entrance, opticians, key cutting etc. I couldn't go on the sick, and couldn't do my job without great pain.
I remember one day having to ask an old man to help me unload some heavy metal strips. He scowled at me something critical, to which I explained he's fittier than me, which then made him feel awkward and me.
I never want to be in that situation again, I dreaded every day having to ask people to put parcels on my van that I can now lift with my little finger.

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Rules is rules, is rules and they are in place so that EVERYONE benefits.

Parking Wardens, as they are known nowadays, are necessary because far too many drivers, or people for that matter, show little or no consideration to their fellow men and women. So we have to have rules.

The main and only purpose of a road is for vehicular traffic to progress along it unhindered. Along each side there is a pavement or footpath or for our American cousins a sidewalk. This is for pedestrians only. It is not for cars to park on or for cyclists to ride on.

This may come as a shock to many people but the motorist does not have an inalienable right to park on the public highway, not even in front of his/her own house. Any car parked on the public highway CAN be booked for obstruction, unless it is parked in an area marked out for that purpose.

Many people like myself have a disabled bay marked out on the road by the Highways Agency of the local authority in front of or by the side of their house. Did you know that ANYONE could park in that bay, with or without a blue badge without fear of official retribution? The marking is nothing more than a courtesy to the disabled person. But if there is a plaque on an adjacent wall or lamppost stating that there is a disabled bay marked out then only people displaying a blue badge can park there with impunity. Of course it can only be the holder of the badge who is using that vehicle at the time that it was parked.

Some people think that a blue badge holder can park more or less where they like but that is not the case. Oh! Yes! We can park on yellow lines but only if in doing so we don’t cause an obstruction to other traffic. We cannot park where there are kerbside markings and where there is residential parking in front of homes – that is PERMIT HOLDERS ONLY.

If cars are parked on both sides of the street and a fire engine on an emergency call has need to travel down that street but in doing so is likely to damage the cars by destroying door mirrors along the way, then it can do so with impunity. Why? Because of paragraph #4. I guess that is why people park with one wheel on the pavement to protect their mirrors.

In many places the painting of single and double yellow lines seems to be done on a whim rather than a need. The local authority has the authority to paint the lines so if anyone has a problem with them, they should bug the Council and not whinge about Parking Wardens.

The Parking Wardens are doing a lawful job but some ‘jobs worth’ wardens take things to the extreme, although technically they are in the right. Does a few minutes overstay make such a huge difference in the general scheme of things? Er! Yes it does! Because during a small overstay some other motorist might have come along and could have been able to park in, but for you, a vacant spot. Instead that motorist drove away looking for a parking place and spewed yet more CO2 into the town’s atmosphere. On the other hand does it really matter if a wheel is half an inch over a line? Not really!

Sadly, since the local authority has taken over parking monitoring they view the job as a nice little earner for the Council coffers.

I wonder what would happen if everyone, and I mean everyone, adhered to the parking regulations in and around the town centre for a month or more? The Parking Wardens would not find anyone to book, the revenue would plummet and the Council would be paying people for doing nothing and equally important not bringing in the cash. How long would they stay employed? Just a thought!

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Fair enough, why not clip it to the back side of your sun visor so all you need to do when parking up is flick your visor down? How long do you get on a blue badge now?

My dad had one and TBH I could apply for my mum as I take her most places and her walking isn't up to much but I normally manage to get close enough or I drop her off and go and park up elsewhere. Plus I have a broken back and I'm not meant to carry any heavy weights very far

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That is an interesting thought :)

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Took these on Blackburn Road yesterday Note the Parking Bay is Totaly empty:)

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if you think accrington is bad you want to try blackburn .theres a traffic warden round every corner.plus youve to pay to go on the market youve to pay to park in the side streets.every were you go in blackburn town centre it costs you to park.

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That's interesting Mick, seems as if he had parked in the bay, would have blocked the other two cars from getting out and caused world war lll .. !

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they have a thing at our local club for traffic wardens on a wednesday night its called line dancing .traffic wardens night out

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short answer would be YES :rolleyes:

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ye well I agree with the photograph, which is cheap enough and protects us from dodgy wardens and them from us telling lies.
Yess I'll post some pics of here if i can find them, parking on the pavement or on double yellows is the norm here. Deliveries have to block the road cos of idle people parking on the double yellows. If it's a delivery and thee is nowhere else I can understand it, but idle people no way.

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Rear of B&M Bargins
Cinema car park
Car park on king street
Car park under railway bridge on king street
Car park at top of Blackburn road
Car park for netto, motor mania etc
Car park Betwen Oak street and grange lane
Car park Wellington street

A large selection of spaces for those who look:rolleyes:

PS who voted on a 6 month old poll lol?

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Probably Mani Aleks voting negative ... LOL (see his new thread on a parking problem)

Just a note, went on Blackburn Arndale car park last week, just installed entry by a little round token and then in machine to pay .. don't forget to take it with you, otherwise may find yourself having to go up to your level to get out of car, then back again (or could drive down if room). No pay machines until ground level. Didn't notice any 'don't forget to take your token with you' type notices. Might have been, but couldn't see.

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Yeah i noticed that but kept it with me thankfully.

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What the idea of the token then?

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It's same as at the hospital and airports except instead of a card it's a token, supposedly they've done it that way as it can easily be kept in your purse/wallet!!

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my dad lives in ireland and when he came over he parked up and met us in town, he didnt know about the disc... when we went back to the car and the warden was just putting the ticket on, he said there was nothig he could do about it now and to call a number he gave us... my dod called the number, explained what had happened and the check his address against his plate and let him off the fine because it wasnt his fault, if you are new to the town how are u supposed to get a disc without parking up first?

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You mean just like the change you would have needed?

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I agree that the Arndale car park is a nightmare to use. I have only a small car and have got uptight the few times I have used it.
I recall that when the Arndale was built, the council stipulated that the development included 'x' number of parking spaces. The developer crammed that number into the smallest possible space so that there was more left for retail outlets.
Result---- nightmare carpark which leaves you feeling like a limp rag and in no mood for spending or returning.

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Thats simple, if you read the massive board with the instructions on it tells you the top two levels of the car park don't need a disc.

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I have had a big volvo round there no problem and never had a problem with the spaces. must be your driving:psmile:

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The male brain has more inbuilt 'spacial awareness' than the female brain.
So - ladies need more room to manouver with confidence

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Is that why they cant park?

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I once got complimented on perfect parking on Bank St, by a total stranger - I suppose it depends how stressed you are when you doing it -for women, more mental effort is required for parking.
Judging spaces, and whether you can fit through them, is easier for men

PS women's brains have more empathic tendences than men's brains - we evolved that way

Yes, I remember that day of course I didn't know who you were at that time, I think my exact words were, "I have never seen anyone park their broomstick in such a way as to take up two parking spaces so perfectly".

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well the guy who designed accys road system hadnt so its possible.

i believe that person has since been moved over to screw blackburn up.

As for traffic wardens they are pretty effective when it suits but walk on by in ignorant bliss when a taxi is parked on the roundabout outside the yorkshire bank and were all aware how little they do down blackburn road

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they wouldn't be so bad if they actually knew the laws and abided by them. I have only ever had 2 parking tickets, both issued illegally both contested and dropped (eventually) on the grounds that the wardens had not known the law and the tickets should not have been issued in the first place. also I have personally witnessed wardens driving round in unmarked cars then parking illegally whilst issuing tickets to other road users. unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me at the time.

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Its an old thread but I am going to comment any way.

I drive a largish car, Mondeo estate, and I dont have a problem with that car park, yes some spaces are not easy to get into, mainly the ones on your left as you go up or down a ramp. Its quite simple though, if the space looks hard to get into or unsafe at that time then keep going and find another.

As for people getting stressed waiting for other to reverse out of spaces that is just because they are idiots, its a car park, people have to get in and out of spaces.

I have seen car parks better and worse than this one but I would not describe it as badly designed.

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totally agree I drive a large mpv and don't have a problem. It's not the car park it's people's lack of driving ability that is the problem. i too have seen worse parking facilities (you want to try to get a 40 foot long coach into some hotel car parks!)