No Meters Here

Lucy’s column for March 25
Parklo..1
There has been a petition bearing over 2,000 signatures against it. The Lib-Dem trio who represent the suburb on the City Council have been vociferous in their fight against it. Letters, decrying the idea and asking for answers, have poured into this very double-page platform for readers’ views. And every shop, business, Tom, Dick and Harriet has taken up the cudgels against the unfairness of it all.
So how come Derby City Council has ignored everybody’s views, and decided that Littleover is going to be awash with parking meters?
I don’t often get political in this column, preferring to leave that sort of thing to those with a greater knowledge of the inner workings of the local authority – in our case, the council that listens! But, I have to ask why , in heaven’s name, do we need parking meters in the village? What jobsworth dreamed up this ludicrous scheme.
Everybody in the village I have spoken to has agreed that we just don’t need them, so how does Councillor Ranjit Banwait justify his remarks that there have been requests from the locals for such a scheme? He says that congestion will get worse. Of course it will get worse because of his council’s policy of approving ever more indiscriminate housing development which produces more traffic. Come of it, councillor.
OK, they say they will review it after six months - a totally disingenuous statement. Are we really to believe that after paying ten of thousands of pounds to install the meters, hiring traffic wardens to "police" them and needing more staff to empty them, that the council are going to drop the idea?
The arrogance of some of these elected "servants" is sometimes breathtaking to behold. Perhaps a few shocks in the local elections might not come amiss
Derby City Council says it consults with the people. Consults, perhaps, then rides roughshod over the very people who vote them in and steams ahead with unpopular plans anyway.
A letter in Opinion last week summed up the ludicrousness of the parking meter system generally. Janet Tristram has received three parking tickets in Derby in the space of six months because on each occasion she was stuck in meetings – meetings with the Derby City Partnership which were a vital part of her job as a charity worker in the voluntary sector.
Janet came up with the five-point "charter" citing longer parking times, reduced "fines", and a bit of leeway if the car owner is perhaps a few minutes late. None of her ideas are beyond the wit of man, and as she points out, would make Derby a nicer place to live.
Back in Littleover, currently thriving small businesses will suffer, residents unfortunate enough to have a meter stuck outside their homes will have to curb visits from friends and family, and if there is any humour to be found in the whole sad and sorry situation, it’s the vision of any number of clients in this hairdressing haven, running around in perm curlers and highlights foil, feeding the machines as their curls and colour take hold.
But I have a cunning plan. If everybody could see a way to boycott the dratted devices, even if it means walking a few hundred extra yards, then let’s join forces and beat the powers-that-be at their insidious, spiteful, revenue-inducing game.
End
Brenlo…1
The popularity of feisty Derby daughter Brenda Grogan will never diminish – not while her family and friends, led by daughters Wendy Shipp and Karen Gittins, son John, sister Joyce, and friends Lil Bancroft and June Newton are around to keep her memory alive.
Brenlo..2
A year on from her untimely death, age just 60, they organised a night of fun and frolics at Mr Grundy’s, Ashbourne Road, Derby, which raised nearly £900 for Cancer Research, a charity close to Brenda’s big-as-a-bucket heart, and an amount well beyond their expectations. But, they insist, it wasn’t just down to them.
Thanks go to Carl Haspel, who owns the Georgian Hotel which houses the venue, gave them the run of the place out of the goodness of his own heart, and paid the special fee for Derbyshire’s favourite Elvis tribute act Aaron Badwal and his "roadie", Gurd , who provided their superb brand of entertainment; To the Costco Girls, who contributed in excess of £150; and to Chris Thorewill and Andy Lee, who have just taken over the Duke of York, Burton Road, and sandwich-maker supreme Spencer Phillips, who provided the refreshments, and assisted with a table-groaning raffle, with prizes coming in from all and sundry.
For the past two years, Wendy and Karen have taken part in the Run for Life cancer charity on Darley Park, and this year, May 11, will be no exception. The first year, their precious mum was on hand to cheer them on. Come May, she will still be there in spirit.
end