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Residents in parking clash with commuters

1:00pm Friday 15th August 2008

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DOUBLE yellow lines are planned for a popular commuters' parking spot in Bournemouth.

Cavendish Road is five minutes' walk from the town centre and is used by workers every morning to avoid £9 a day car parking charges.

But a residents' campaign has led to proposals for yellow lines on the inside of the circular shaped road and parking bays on the outside.

"I can't afford £9 a day," said an anxious sandwich bar worker arriving for work.

"It's getting to a stage where there's nowhere to park."

The road, off Wimborne Road near Richmond Hill, has numerous flats with off-road parking to the rear.

The complaints were mainly from large houses with driveways.

Many houses have white lines in front of the driveway, which carry no legal force, and commuters sometimes park over them.

A male commuter in a suit said: "If people don't like you parking outside their house, too bad. You have a right to park on the public highway."

Dawn Metcalf, 24, said: "I live in Hengistbury Head. I'd have to leave the house at about 7.30am and walk a mile and a half then get a bus to be in for 9am."

Cheryl Scorer, 49, from Bear Cross, who works at the Halifax, started a petition against the plans.

She said: "It will also affect shoppers - they will just go to Castlepoint for free parking."

Carole Gadsby, a resident and retired lecturer, helped organise a Homewatch meeting of around 20 homes to raise the "awful" parking problem with ward councillor Dave Smith.

She said the number of cars blocked vision and created a safety problem.

Cllr Smith pushed for the proposals and said: "Commuters can car share, bus services are generally better now and they can cycle. It's also national policy to stop people driving in to town centres."

Some residents backed the commuters. One lady said: "It's a shame. Everywhere you go with a car you are getting put upon."

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Moordown_lad, Moordown says...
1:38pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Hmm, I'd like to see any sign of improved bus services. I have to be at work in town at 07:00, no bus can get me there at that from Moordown.

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benny, bournemouth says...
1:50pm Fri 15 Aug 08

i think it is a good idea i used to live in Cavendish road 8 years ago and it was a nightmare then.. people are goning to have to change the way we get to work like share a car we now live in Walisdown and my wife works in bournemouth and i have a business in Ringwood .. and each morning i drop my wife into work we decided to do this instead of buying another car which we could have done but it would have been another car on its way to Bournemouth with 1 person in only to sit thier all day doing nothing.. and before any one says anything i could cycle to Ringwood each day but when you have to go out each day to pick materials up and deliver work it is not possible to do it on a bike.. so at least it is not sat thier all day not being used....

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Steve, Ensbury Park says...
2:04pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Cllr Smith pushed for the proposals and said: "Commuters can car share, bus services are generally better now and they can cycle. It's also national policy to stop people driving in to town centres."

Are the town councillors trying to kill off the town centre? It certainly looks like it to me. Are they trying to stop people coming to the town full stop? People will NOT stop driving into the town cenre. More and more (town centre workers) will park in the fewer & fewer car parking spaces in the town centre, leaving nowhere to park for the people who travel in to spend some time on the beach. Still, i suppose they could always knock a few shops or hotels down to make car parking space, when they become redundant due to no visitors.

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laurie marsh, australia says...
2:18pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Are there no "park and ride" stations in B'm'th?

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Christopher, Wallisdown & Winton West says...
2:21pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Invariably the Council in many ways receives finance from the various businesses in the town centre, such as rent, taxes, etc. Therefore it should be in the Councils interest to ensure that a very good supportive infrastructure is in place.

1. Ensure that a substantial bus service is in place to get everyone to work at various times.

2. Take back the Car Parks in the town centre, Triangle, Richmond Hill, IMAX, and others, including the spaces from the BIC, with a park and ride service across the town centre. At the same time ensuring that car park fees are drastically reduced, and maybe subsidised by the businesses in the town centre.

3. Make all non car park parking on a time limit. Thus freeing up spaces for those who are on a short visits.

At present, it will be impossible to stop or reduce vehicular traffic within the town centre until something is done about it.

To the Council, it is your town, in which you reap the benefits. Do something about it. Oh yes, please inform Cllr Smith he needs to update himself on the town centre problems and remedies.


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clivechunks, ferndown says...
2:22pm Fri 15 Aug 08

laurie marsh wrote:
Are there no "park and ride" stations in B'm'th?
Hi Laurie, unfortunately not, that would be a good idea. We have them at Salisbury and Winchester and they work very well. Bournemouth could do with one but I don't know where the best site for it would be.

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clivechunks, ferndown says...
2:23pm Fri 15 Aug 08

laurie marsh wrote:
Are there no "park and ride" stations in B'm'th?
Hi Laurie, unfortunately not, that would be a good idea. We have them at Salisbury and Winchester and they work very well. Bournemouth could do with one but I don't know where the best site for it would be.

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ranger_bob, Springbourne says...
2:29pm Fri 15 Aug 08

This is such a farce. If the council was getting parking fees or fines from people parking in Cavendish Road then they wouldn't be entertaining the yellow lines in the slightest.

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laurie marsh, australia says...
2:45pm Fri 15 Aug 08

clivechunks,
Merrick park, plus the junction of st. pauls rd. and st. pauls lane.
Also compulsorary purchase of a few run down properties.
If something is needed it can be done with limited hurt to the populace!

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Steve, Bournemouth says...
2:50pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Best of luck to all the petitioners - where can I sign. I've thought for years that people employed in a town should have a vote in the local elections, as well as residents, after all, many of us spend more of our waking hours in the town where we work, rather than at home, and we need as much consideration as residents. When all of the free parking has been removed, what happens to employees who can no longer park, can they quit their jobs and present themselves at the DSS, housing benefit etc, and say "my job was made innaccessable by the council, so I had to leave, I'm now claiming benefit until I can find a job that I can get to". Has anyone ever been in this position?.

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Steve, Winton says...
3:09pm Fri 15 Aug 08

What do people expect, if you buy a house in a road with no parking restrictions 5 minutes walk from the town centre. I expect the price that they paid for the properties reflected the fact that the road was a commuter parking hotspot, and that in some cases, the commuter parking was what made the type and size of house affordable to them in the first place. If you don't like commuter parking, move!

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emma1119995, branksome park says...
4:06pm Fri 15 Aug 08

thankfully i have a new job now with a car park, but last year i used to park here and i used to dread getting up in the morning. it was so difficult to park round that area anyway without yellow lines being added into the equation. the council is being ridiculous now - where is everybody meant to park? we all may aswell go on benefits rather than pay £9 a day to park!! it's a joke.

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Alex_bateman, Bournemouth says...
4:22pm Fri 15 Aug 08

I moved out of Cavendish Road last week. I lived in a 1-bed flat with an allocated parking space. Excellent if there's just one of you.

But when you have visitors coming, such as family from Torquay, where can they park? I propose instead of yellow lines, why not permits? At least everyone benefits then. So the only people that can park in Cavendish Road are those who live there, or visit.

Thank God i live no where near town now!

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Mike Pickering, Bournemouth says...
4:45pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Yeh, really there's no such thing as a 'resident' or a 'commuter', there are just road tax paying individuals who legally park where they're entitled to.
How far do you have to live from a space to be classed a 'resident', or a 'commuter' ? We're all residents and we're all commuters.
The problem as stated so clearly and so many times above, is that there is no adequate provision for parking, full stop. It is not always possible to car share, nor to get a bus, if there are not places to park for people to shop, live and work, then they will simply be forced to stop using the town center for these activities, and like I said some days ago, the town will revert to a series of unoccupied retail spaces, charity shops, pubs and takeaways, like every other part of every other town up and down the country. The lessons Bournemouth planners need to learn are written large a thousand-fold all around the land, the next few years really are the last chance to get this at least half right before the town dies.
I have little hope.

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Jim, Bournemouth says...
5:49pm Fri 15 Aug 08

I used to work in Bournemouth town centre nearly 20 years ago, and parking seemed to be a nightmare then, heaven knows how bad it is now. For those working in retail or similar, on minimum wage or little more, the cost of car parking for the working day is bordering on the confiscatory. and for a good proportion of people (and I was in that category) public transport isnt an option. "why not cycle?" I hear people say.. well how many small shops in particular have showering facilities and who wants to cycle home after another back-breaking day at work?
Working in town just isn't attractive anymore.

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hoppity, hamworthy says...
6:21pm Fri 15 Aug 08

there is no parking in poole either they have yellow lines everywhere car parking is over £7 per day a lady i work with cathes the bus as its cheaper and easier than trying to find a parking space, Park and ride would be an excellent idea for Poole and Bournemouth

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SW, Bournemouth says...
6:27pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Cllr Smith pushed for the proposals and said: "Commuters can car share, bus services are generally better now and they can cycle. It's also national policy to stop people driving in to town centres."


It's national policy to stop people driving into town centres. - Is it Cllr Smith?

That's why the Town hall and council offices have at least three dedicated car parks for their use during working hours Monday to Friday!

The car park under the Wessex Way on St Stephens Road, The car park on Braidley Road and outside the Town hall, should all be opened up for unrestricted use for the public. Then when those are full and council workers have to park on residential roads like these, Councillors may take notice when they have to park a mile out to get to work.

Why should they get special treatment, when most shop workers in town are on minimum wage?

Show us your green credentials and loose the car parks Cllr Smith!

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Phil, Poole says...
7:04pm Fri 15 Aug 08

When car parking was at a reasonable price in the town centre, a few years back, there was nowhere near the number of cars parked in Cavendish Road - hardly any in fact. So it's the greedy council and their NCP mates who caused this problem in the first place.

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Phil, Poole says...
7:07pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Another thing: as mentioned in the articles, most houses in this road have large driveways with garages and ample off-road parking for several vehicles. I suppose they simply don't want the hoi-polloi parked outside their houses!

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debbie2110, bournemouth says...
9:31pm Fri 15 Aug 08

Once again it's the selfish and ignorant to blame! Before they put yellow lines round our road people thought nothing of blocking in residents by parking across driveways. They also parked right up to junctions making it dangerous to get out and would completely disregard the speed limits at home time! Sadly it now means those of us without drives or just one allocated parking space have nowhere for our visitors to park.

If parking is removed with double yellow lines then there should be further public parking provided close by at a low cost or free.

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Alison, poole says...
9:04am Sat 16 Aug 08

Even if people where to car share, where do they suggest they park the car?? Also many people work different hours so it is not always convenient to car share. I have to leave Poole at 7am daily to get a car parking space already near cavendish. The bus cost £3.70 a day and takes an hour - to drive my car in costs just under £3 a day and 20 mins of my time - why would I wish to use an inconvenient method of transport like a bus? Yes what we need is a park and Ride that is reasonable in price.

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Nighthawk, Bournemouth says...
2:27pm Sat 16 Aug 08

I am afraid this situation will only increase as the local authorities are forced by Central Government to build these grotesque blocks of ugly flats, many of which have insufficient parking for their needs. This forces people to park on the roads, which then become even more congested as more and more people commute in their beloved car to their place of work, therefore meaning more competition for available spaces.

We live in a very wide residential road on the outskirts of Moordown and the traffic passing through this road is increasing almost on a daily basis as people desperately try to avoid Castle lane. More and more people park in our road. We have a heavy duty industrial road sweeping vehicle parked their on a permanent basis. The driver does not even live in our road, but uses it as a parking convenience as he choses not to park the ugly, large vehicle in his own road. Every so often an army of "Coffin Dodgers" turn up in our road early in the morning and park their vehicles, free of charge until at least 8 p.m. in the evening. They then make their way down to the garage/shop on the corner of the road to board a Coach which pulls up at this pick up point. A day trip, free parking, cannot be bad, in this day and age. Unfortunately the residents, and I am one of them have to put up with this army of pensioners parked all day outside our homes. I am in favour of parking meters in the road for this type of motorist. Most of the residents have sufficient space in their drive ways to accommodate their own vehicles. If you want further parking outside of your driveway,perhaps you could purchase a yearly parking permit at a reduced rate as you are a resident.

This would perhaps make all these commuters and pensioners think twice about permanently parking in residential areas for pre- periods. Their are many roads surrounding us who do not have the luxury of space and are slowly becoming choked to the point where their is insufficient room for traffic to pass through.
Winton is a classic example. Houses built in the Edwardian/Victorian era, now having to cope with ever increasing vehicles both parked in the road and others passing through, when these homes were built before the motor vehicle or certainly when there were few vehicles on the road.








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Nighthawk, Bournemouth says...
2:30pm Sat 16 Aug 08

Should read pre-longed periods.

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Nighthawk, Bournemouth says...
2:36pm Sat 16 Aug 08

Cheryl Scorer, 49, from Bear Cross, who works at the Halifax, started a petition against the plans.

She said: "It will also affect shoppers - they will just go to Castlepoint for free parking."

This is in itself a joke.....Castlepoint is at times grid-locked!! Only a few weeks ago angry, frustrated shoppers spent hours sitting in their vehicles after shopping unable to even leave their parking space in Castlepoint, as the car park and Castle Lane, leading to this shopping centre were both grid locked.... Wait until they start the re-building of this Car-Park that was built to appalling standards in the first place. As I understand it only half the spaces will be available whilst re-building this ever failing car-park. If they don't get a move on the car park will have to be closed and condemned as being a safety risk, if it is not already one.

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kerry.w, Bournemouth says...
9:44pm Sat 16 Aug 08

I would like to ask the Councillors "Why they don't car share!!!" Oh yes I forgot they have under cover parking paid for by you and me the residents of Bournemouth! As for the comment from Cllr Smith who says "busses are genarally better now"! When last were you trying to get to work early in the morning? As for the government saying they are trying to stop people from driving into town, maybe we should stop going into town period.
I'm sure if the residents of Bournemouth succesfully boycotted the town centre for a month, that something would be done. I'm sure we will be paying soon to use your own car parking space at home!!!

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Bob W, Cavendish Road says...
10:11pm Sat 16 Aug 08

I live in "a big house" that contains 17 Flats in Cavendish Road. We are fortunate to have parking on the property.
I have been frustrated with the attitude of certain motorists.
The reason we are getting our yellow lines, at long last, is that the white lines are being ignored by the selfish few.
Parking over the white lines may well solve the problem for the inconsiderate parker. This then passes the problem on to the Cavendish Road resident trying to get in and out of their house/flat bungalow/bedsit without being involved or causing an accident.

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chris4413, broadstone says...
11:02pm Sat 16 Aug 08

In Winsor, they operate a scheme whereby residents display special stickers to allow them to park outside their properties on the public road. Other motorists have to use meter parking with an upper limit of 2 or 3 hours so that all - day parking is discouraged.

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teenie, Poole says...
11:09pm Sat 16 Aug 08

Where will the visitors park if the yellow lines are painted in Cavendish Road? or will they park in Dean Park Road/Crescent instead! Its the BAD parking of some drivers that have spoilt it for the rest of us!Soon I'll have to remortgage just to afford to park so I can go to work! commuting by bus is not an option for me as there are fewer buses to catch & often I have to work by myself until the person who travels by bus arrives late for work.
We used to sign a late book at work & late or full buses were usually the reasons for fellow workers being late.
All Bmth Council is doing is slowly strangling/killing
the town.Without retail employees etc there will be no town center!

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Phil, Poole says...
4:25pm Sun 17 Aug 08

As I mentioned, the ulterior motive for this is not to help residents but to force all motorists into the exorbitant town centre car parks.

There really is no reason at all to have yellow lines in this road, since it's extremely wide and can easily accommodate parking on both sides. If certain motorists go and park inappropriately, they should be dealt with individually by parking enforcement.

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norbitonpaul, says...
8:19am Mon 18 Aug 08

I suspect some snobbery and NIMBYism mixed in here somewhere.
But irrespective, it's an unimaginative response from the council because it displaces the problem elsewhere.
A much better solution would have been a residents' parking scheme. Yes, if the residents motives really are a road with 100% visibility and free from any safety risk,it's a privelege that should come at a price.

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retailer, Bournemouth says...
10:02am Mon 18 Aug 08

The majority of comments so far seem to completely ignore the fact that it's not the parking that's the issue - it's the inconsiderate and dangerous parking, that will without doubt cause a serious accident one day, that's the problem. I have numerous photographs of cars parked across my driveway and my neighbours' by arrogant and inconsiderate drivers. On a couple of occasions I have been late collecting my child from school because I couldn't get out of my property at all because some idiots were too lazy to park properly(imagine a real emergency in this situation). I have also witnessed 2 accidents and innumerable near misses caused by poor visibility, exacerbated by high sided vehicles parked in the road.

A couple of other points: parking does not always cost £9 a day as the article would seem wrongly to suggest. Parking is available off Lansdown Road for £2.50 and this is always empty. There are also schemes run by other car parks and churches where parking is much cheaper £2 - £3 per day.

Cheryl Scorer would be better directing her energies to ensuring that drivers park properly and to encouraging the Halifax and the Council to set up a car sharing and/or Park and Ride Scheme (Council - refer to Oxford's excellent scheme).

Shoppers do not use Cavendish Road to park at the weekends - it is work day commuters and students from Bournemouth University (the worst offenders of all).

SAFETY is the overriding factor here - not convenience for drivers - particularly those who don't bother to arrive early and have no scruples about parking where they like.

This is a poorly written, badly researched and one sided article - you can do better than this Echo.

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PETE WOODLEY, says...
1:33pm Mon 18 Aug 08

Surely there has to be sympathy for those who work in the town centre,with the high cost of parking.

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PETE WOODLEY, says...
1:37pm Mon 18 Aug 08

Surely there has to be sympathy for those who work in the town centre,with the high cost of parking.

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Michael Haines, Bournemouth says...
1:45pm Mon 18 Aug 08

I am a resident in Cavendish Road and see absolutely no reason why work day commuters should not use the area for free parking. Why make life more difficult than it is already.I have not experienced any problems at all with the commuters parking.For heavens sake, what should we expect if we live within a stones throw of the town centre, ofcourse people are going to park in the roads.

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mar, poole says...
5:15pm Thu 21 Aug 08

just wondering if the residents of Cavendish Road ever park outside somebody else's house when they go shopping?

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Bob W, Cavendish Road says...
9:22am Fri 22 Aug 08

mar wrote:
just wondering if the residents of Cavendish Road ever park outside somebody else's house when they go shopping?
Hi mar,
Well I do for one.
Interesting thing is that I know the problems encountered due to bad parking.
Next thing you know is that residents are asking the police/council the best way of countering the problem.
Next thing you know Yellow Lines are planned.
Then you get a load of hot air about why or why not.
On second thoughts, I think I will stay at home today and not upset anybody.
Have a nice day and thanks for your interest and comments.
Cheers,
Bob

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Bob W, Cavendish Road says...
9:26am Fri 22 Aug 08

Michael Haines wrote:
I am a resident in Cavendish Road and see absolutely no reason why work day commuters should not use the area for free parking. Why make life more difficult than it is already.I have not experienced any problems at all with the commuters parking.For heavens sake, what should we expect if we live within a stones throw of the town centre, ofcourse people are going to park in the roads.
Hi Michael,
I think you have missed the point here.
The issue is not to ban parking but to make sure the naughty parkers are kept in line and that they abide by the law.
Cheers,
Bob

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Bob W, Cavendish Road says...
9:30am Fri 22 Aug 08

ranger_bob wrote:
This is such a farce. If the council was getting parking fees or fines from people parking in Cavendish Road then they wouldn't be entertaining the yellow lines in the slightest.
Hi ranger_bob,
The council are trying to act on behalf of the rate payers that live in Cavendish Road.
It has nothing at all to do with creating revenue from the hapless motorist, yet again.
Have a look at my other comments to see what I mean.
Cheers,
Bob

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Bob W, Cavendish Road says...
9:38am Fri 22 Aug 08

Phil wrote:
Another thing: as mentioned in the articles, most houses in this road have large driveways with garages and ample off-road parking for several vehicles. I suppose they simply don't want the hoi-polloi parked outside their houses!
Hi Phil,
You are missing the point.
Legaly parked vehicles are welcom here any time AFAIC.
It's the minority spoiling it for the few, yet again.

Cheers,
Bob

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Bob W, Cavendish Road says...
9:45am Fri 22 Aug 08

Phil wrote:
As I mentioned, the ulterior motive for this is not to help residents but to force all motorists into the exorbitant town centre car parks.

There really is no reason at all to have yellow lines in this road, since it's extremely wide and can easily accommodate parking on both sides. If certain motorists go and park inappropriately, they should be dealt with individually by parking enforcement.
Hi Phil,
Enforcement is not possible with the current situation. White lines are not enforcable. Yellow ones are.
Ask the Police. They are sick of telling me "there is nothing we can do"
I have the mobile number of the local bobby.
Cheers,
Bob

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mar, poole says...
11:37am Fri 22 Aug 08

If all the residents of Cavendish Road were as considerate as Bob W of Cavendish Road there would not be a problem.

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PROTEST: Mandy Sait, Amy Nuttall and Cheryl Scorer PROTEST: Mandy Sait, Amy Nuttall and Cheryl Scorer

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