This post is a response to comments made on the post about Goudhurst Road

One of the advantages of running as part of my weight loss is that I get to explore different parts of Twydall Ward, by varying the route slightly each time.

Today’s route was: Goduhurst Road - Minster Road - Crundale Road - Waltham Road - Begonia Avenue - Pump Lane - Beechings Way - Goudhurst Road. As always I had my phone with me, and so was able to take this photograph:

This is the now-famous raised zebra crossing in Beechings Way, not far from the non-raised zebra crossing at Beechings Green. It is pointless, it is unnecessary and succeeds only in slowing down the flow of traffic, when really the goal which should be being pursued is speeding up the flow of traffic (without allowing them to break the speed limit, obviously!).

And that is precisely the point my driving instructor made when I told him that the Liberals were asking for a zebra crossing in Goudhurst Road - it will do nothing but slow down the flow of traffic and ensure that journeys by car are ever more awkward, increasing driver frustration.

The real problem in Goudhurst Road is parking, as has been mentioned several times before. I half-floated an idea on my last post on this issue, but didn’t really explore it in detail, which is what I intend to do now.

There are three “pressure points” in Goudhurst Road: the stretch just outside my house, the T-junction with Charing Road and the bend (on which falls the T-junction with Minster Road). I shall deal with each of these separately.

Firstly the bend. A lot of the houses along that stretch of road have driveways, but some seem to be out of use a lot of the time. A lot of cars, however, may belong to people who are unable to park outside their front door. They also park on both sides of the road, making it a pain to drive around, especially when there is a bus coming the other way.

Secondly the T-junction with Charing Road. As the picture above shows, although not very well, people generally tend to park on the left hand side of the road. However, this practice cannot be continued once you get to Charing Road, so people park on the right hand side. There is also a bus stop on the right hand side (just opposite Charing Road).

Problems occur a - when a bus is coming along the road (a problem along the whole road, especially from Eastcourt Lane to Twydall Green, where buses go in both directions), and b - when people start parking on the right hand side as well as the left hand side, thus making it impossible for two normal-sized cars to drive past the same point at the same time.

Finally there is the stretch of road outside my house. This is where my opponents will start jumping up and down excitedly calling me a hypocrite, whereas in reality I am trying to opine with a little bit of common sense, exploring a possible solution to a desperate problem.

There are five houses opposite me and five in my terrace, a total of ten houses being served by a stretch of road capable of taking 12 or 13 cars (depending on the size). The trouble is, there are more cars than there are spaces. Most of the houses require two spaces - mine will soon be in need of four - plus people from further along the road who are unable to park outside their house will instead park along here.

There is no denying the facts - something needs to be done, especially as the people who recently moved in to the house next door have started a new trend of parking on the other side of the road, meaning the road is no longer wide enough to accommodate two cars driving past each other. It’s not illegal, it’s just the only way they can get round the parking problem.

The photo above, which was taken over 15 months ago and which doesn’t accurately show the extent of the problem today, along with the photo before it, point to one possible, viable solution to the problem: the grass verges running along the road on both sides would be perfect for creating driveways, or at the very least parking bays set in from the road in a style similar to those on Beechings Way and Cornwallis Avenue.

The benefits of paving over them to make driveways or inset parking bays? The Council would save money in the long run, as the grass verges wouldn’t need cutting regularly. There would once again be space on the road for cars and buses to pass by, side-by-side. Most importantly, though, there would be space for cars to park on both sides of the road.

I would be willing to put money on the fact that, if Cllr Mrs Ruparel thinks that non-residents are parking in Westerham Close, it is because of the parking situation in Goudhurst Road. Either residents cannot park in Goudhurst Road and thus are parking in Westerham Close, or they have parked in Charing Road and residents of Charing Road have had to park in Westerham Close.

Either way, calling for residents only parking last year was not addressing the real issue. By creating a viable solution to the parking problem in Goudhurst Road, I would be willing to bet that the number of non-residents parking in Westerham Close would decrease as well.

By creating a viable solution to the parking problem in Goudhurst Road, the buses would be able to pass along with ease, side-by-side with cars driving the other way, ensuring that no-one, whether they be a bus or disgruntled driver having to give way, is delayed in their journey.

By creating a viable solution to the parking problem in Goudhurst Road, everyone wins.

A slightly truncated version of this post was sent to Cllrs Chishti, Chitty, Doe and Filmer as a way of opening up the exploration of a viable solution to this genuine problem.

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