The Van Diaries 2: Royal Pain

Just show the problem of useless parking enforcement leading to van owners abusing our streets is not limited to Brockley Cross, Coulgate Street and the surrounding area, here's a van that is regularly parked right on the pavement on Upper Brockley Road on weekday afternoons, right next door to Myatt Primary School, so all the parents, kids and buggies are forced on to the road to walk around it as they come out of class.

The driver has been doing this for at least a year, presumably in full confidence that no parking attendant is ever going to do anything about it.

It is another clear illustration that the Council needs to re-think its approach to the parking enforcement contracts it awards. Instead of the private contractors being able to keep a proportion of the revenue raised from issuing tickets, performance is evaluated based on the number of complaints the Council receives about parking problems. But since most people wearily shrug their shoulders, rather than complain, there is little incentive for the contractors to do their jobs properly.