Well the experimental ban is now in force and the first reports of contraventions are filtering through. I had to laugh at the first report though, it was of the council’s own vans parking on grass verges in Tilehurst. Clearly the council has yet to get the message round to its own staff.

However, the camera van has been seen around Tilehurst and letters should soon be sent out to people who have parked inconsiderately. The council has rightly opted to just write letters to offenders first and only if they don’t take the hint will subsequent offences be punished with a fine.

There is still a lot of concern about parents parking when dropping off children for school in the mornings and when collecting them in the afternoons. Parents’ parking is a real problem for all our local schools, despite yellow lines and 20mph limits, they still park on street corners, across driveways and on the pavement. Clearly there is not room for every parent to park their car close to the school gate at 3:00 in the afternoon but that is no excuse for the inconsiderate parking of quite a few parents.