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Misery of Portsmouth Road - Karen (25th Nov 2008 - 12:26:45) Has anyone driven down the Porstsmouth Road today? Let me tell you about it. From pretty much the junction of Portsmouth Road and Station Road up to Fletchers Field there are at least 13 vehicles parked. Some are small cars, some large vans and some big site equipment. They are however all connected with the building on the corner of the junction. Now I have been very patient with the builders working at 'Moss Court', but have now had a bellyfull of their inconsiderate actions. Have phoned Clarke Gammon twice (very nice Kate was lovely) and she has passed on my fury to the developer who has yet to call me (been waiting just over a week now). I would like the residents of Portsmouth Road to receive an apology for the inconveince that we have been experiencing since June. I know I can't stop them from parking outside, I have spoken to Pete Tedder about the situation and he is keeping an eye on the parking, as it is highly dangerous. Trying to pass the parked vehicles and not collide with someone either coming up from Petersfield direction or turning out of Station Road. Don't even talk to me about trying to get out of my drive in the morning. Rant Rant Rant. Or the people tooting as they go past because there is a parked car in their way. Rant Rant Rant. As I say, I am furious about the total lack of thought from the developer, and apparently we have temp traffic lights to control traffic while they dig up the road from 1st December - oh now that is something to look forward to, hey but not a word from anyone to let us know. Don't care if they don't have to by law, they should out of common courtesy. God I am really annoyed.....can you tell? K

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Chris (25th Nov 2008 - 14:01:23) Totally agree with you Karen as I drive past all this every day to Petersfield and have had a number of near misses whilst overtaking these parked vehicles. If on-coming trafffic is doing more than 30 then it can be dangerous. Throughout the time that Moss Court has been a building site this has been a problem. One of the conditions of this site being allowed was that no associated vehicles could park outside. This lot have all but finished their stint there and will move on having broken the regulations and conditions imposed on them. No wonder local people despise some building firms!

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Stephen (25th Nov 2008 - 17:36:33) I would have thought that leaving a car unattended next to angry people would be very inadvisable. Who knows what people might do if pushed over the edge?

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Sue W (25th Nov 2008 - 20:25:48) Now folks, I too have been inconvenienced by the long line of vehicles, but for heaven sake, they can hardly park on site, when the access is dug up to lay services. Sometimes, people do not consider that these workers have no choice either!. If you live that close, you would also notice that after the heavy rain it was a total quagmire and if a bit of inconvenience bothers you, why rant about people being inconvenienced in ½ hour stints in PO queues!!!. I have waited far longer to post mail than wait to pass these ‘nuisances’. I do however agree that traffic lights should be installed on a more regular basis, then the dangerous situations of meeting speeding traffic, and trying to pull out of Station Road blind would not be so dangerous. In general the public are not agreeable to waiting – wherever it may be and for whatever reason – it makes us all alike – fancy that!!

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - karen (25th Nov 2008 - 21:08:30) I am not talking about people waiting, I am talking about how dangerous the situation is and how inconsiderate the builders have been to the local residents who have been putting up with their vehicles parked outside their homes all day for months. This has been going on since the summer (well, the bit of the year that was supposed to be summer) and it is just getting worse. That said, I appreciate they cannot park on site but there is a great big car park not a stones throw away, perhaps they should have thought about asking if they could park some of their contractors vehicles in there to ease the congestion. It is a miracle that we have not had a nasty accident down this end of the village, believe you me, I witness the chaos that goes on outside my window on a daily basis. Enough said. K

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Steve Read (25th Nov 2008 - 22:04:02) Don't take much notice of that development to be honest, so where will the new residents park once they have moved in? I take it there is parking behind, or will they be parking out on the road, similar to existing residents along that stretch of road.

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Sue W (26th Nov 2008 - 10:16:29) Karen, The car park is for only 5hrs and is patrolled occasionally by a traffic warden, and not a builder’s car park! When the old Coachworks was being built a large number of workers vans (more than at present) parked outside all the shops and filled the spaces - now that would not bother you, but it caused utter chaos at times. As I said, better traffic control is a must. As for Steve's point, I think there will be parking on the road in future, as there is very little space inside. I do know from a planning application that has been refused next to the Launderette and Gurkha, that when you are so close to trains, school, doctors, shops there is no requirement to provide parking - as they deem a car unnecessary. Total tosh IMO! Perhaps you should look into possible yellow lines in front of all the houses - after all there is parking on property - but I think at times the residents would find this too restrictive! Perhaps the council would consider painting them for a certain distance - to eliminate the problems at the junction, but I would think the new residents would only move on up the line towards you!

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Phil McNamara (26th Nov 2008 - 14:23:13) I note that while inconsiderate parking can of course be a problem, any vehicle legitimately entitled to do so (i.e. current road tax, etc) is permitted to park where indicated on the public highways. Indeed there are regulations specifically for delivery vehicles / designated zones (but not in this case). I suspect that the builders, who are just doing their job, might argue that as a fuel-duty and road-tax paying group that they are well entitled to park on the public highway? The logic that applies (i.e. road tax paid) is also what entitles residents to park outside their homes on public highways, but of course does not guarantee a space.

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - gary (26th Nov 2008 - 18:40:26) How long will the police no parking cones stay ??

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Dee Mcgrath (27th Nov 2008 - 15:32:13) The cones have been moved to the pavement so that the vehicles can park!!!!!!! So the answer is not long! Dee

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - marian camilleri (27th Nov 2008 - 17:29:53) I am in sympathy with you Karen. Back in the summer I talked to the council planning department who said that one of the conditions of the planning consent was that vehicles would be parked on the site itself and not cause a nuisance to local traffic. I too have had to take my life in my hands when coming out of my drive and when I talked to the site manager to ask whether the vehicles could be more considerate about where they parked I got a very rude reply. We are not saying that workmen shouldn't be allowed to do their jobs but will it take an accident happening (there have been quite a few near misses that I have seen) before anyone sees what a potentially dangerous situation there is here. With cars regularly parked from Fletcher's field to the Station Road turn it is becoming a nightmare. One particular example today was the Bordon bus trying to negotiate all the cars as none of the gaps are big enough for it to pull in so it has to be able to run the gauntlet in one go. Unfortunately I think Steve is right tho, the situation will probably be much worse once the flats are occupied - how many parking spaces have been allocated to each of the ten flats?

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Sue w (28th Nov 2008 - 09:53:20) Re the cones. When I passed the site on Wednesday, the cones were on the road - because they were using the opening there. This was the first time I had noticed there are two sets of large gates. Perhaps the cones are only used under these circumstances - or perhaps not!!

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Karen (5th Dec 2008 - 14:53:59) 'The Adventure of Leaving My Drive' The title of my new novel, due out early next year, which will be loosely based on the adventures that I have been enduring for the last 6 months trying to get in and out of my drive on the Portsmouth Road. Here is a short extract for you: This morning in addition to the temporary lights, I also had a road full of parked cars and a queue full of drivers who seemed completely blind when it came to my car slowly reversing out of my drive. Have to say that I 'lost it' completely and by the time I had managed to get out and proceed up the Porstmouth Road towards the school (yes, was also in a rush) I was burning out my clutch, wheel spinning, hooting my horn and giving Knight Rider a run for his money. The children sat open mouthed with looks of sheer terror and/or excitement on their faces as I swore (under my breath) and skidded my way up the road past the parked cars and the stupid drivers who wouldn't let me through (even though I had right of way) because they wanted to get into the traffic light queue a bit quicker. Nearly got shoved in the bushes by one driver. Still no apology from the developer, but think I may have frightened him off the other day when he dared park outside my house. He saw me, as I stood hands on hips with my best 'don't mess with me look' on my face, he got back into his car and went and parked down the road. Do you think he was avoiding me????!! Watch out for my sequel titled 'You can't park your car there even if you are visiting residents of Moss Court'. It will be a blinder. K

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - uncle dave (9th Dec 2008 - 13:20:31) hi karen see your point! can i have a signed copy of the said novel?

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - karen (9th Dec 2008 - 14:19:41) Uncle Dave It just keeps on getting better down here, the lack of common sense of some drivers is beyond belief! Yes, you can have a signed copy with my love!! Karen

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Steve Read (9th Dec 2008 - 22:38:34) Karen, Hope I'am wrong but your sequel title could end up.. "Nope you can't park your car there even if you are a resident of Moss Court."

Re: Misery of Portsmouth Road - Dawn Hoskins (10th Dec 2008 - 11:16:20) How about making some of those old fashioned gymkhana fences? You know, two pieces of wood on a couple of up-turned dust bins, all painted with red and white stripes. Put in front of own drive, leave up-turned bin and just lift planks off when you want to come in and out! Could even put some Christmas lights on to ‘merry’ it up a bit. Could also organise a late night co-ordinated car shift so all access to the site is completely blocked to workmen’s’ vehicles and all access to Moss Court is cut off (could put a little note in windscreen ‘just visiting a housebound resident of Portsmouth road’) , maybe once or twice will send the message.

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