Dear Medway Council, which brain ache closed the car park for no reason?

I am seriously annoyed – and I mean seriously (and, believe me, that doesn’t happen very often – at least, not to this extent).

Someone, obviously not content with causing untold misery and chaos to the lives of thousands of motorists passing through Chatham everyday, decided to aggravate a few more people tonight (Monday) with no word of explanation nor warning.

Now I can understand phased regeneration works. I can understand phased essential maintenance. But I cannot understand, nor accept, the closure of an entire car park for no reason!

Perhaps I should explain. Tonight, as per usual for a Monday night, I was enjoying a few (non-alcoholic) drinks at the RAFA Club in Chatham (River ward, of all places!), and (again as per usual) some of my friends from cadets were coming down to join in the fun.

In fact, it was a special occasion, so most people of age 18 and over were coming down – or so they thought.

After about half had turned up, we received a phone call from another member of the group, saying that the car park (Riverside, in case you were wondering) had been closed. And that was it – that was the extent of our warning.

The blindingly obvious fact that there were a dozen or more cars parked in the car park – and two buildings still blatantly open – mattered not to whichever brain ache decided to close the entire car park. And why?

So that they could do some work in a tiny corner of the car park, away from the open buildings, and away from the through route to them!

Now, I’m not going to pretend that trade on a Monday night is brilliant by any account – partially because of the extortionate parking charges imposed by Medway Council until 10pm – but some bright spark clearly had a common sense failure.

Fortunately, one of the workmen receiving our tax money for preparing the area for the construction of the new bus station (which I agree with, by the way, and whose construction I am thoroughly looking forward to) was standing around doing nothing (aside from puffing on a fag) and was able to let me out – though he was rather rude about the process, not understanding how, with my car windows wound up, I couldn’t hear him ask which way I wanted to go; and then barely leaving me enough room to exit the car park.

Even so, the whole exercise was a pointless waste of resources. There was no reason why the route to the RAFA Club and Command House could not have remained open, and just the corner by the library and Riverside One be sealed off.

At ?the very least some warning would have been nice, not just for those using the buildings, but for those who may have intended to go there (or were on their way). Instead, one would find out when one reached the car park entrance, and cause more chaos trying to navigate through the traffic lights constructed once again for the overnight work.

But, apparently, even that was too much work for the brain ache who took the stupid decision to close the car park in the first place.

I hate to say it, as I don’t very often, but for a blatant disregard for council taxpayers, council officers’ heads should roll…