http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=642228 Link!

Hope you get it back. It'll probably turn up at the weekend on Market Road.

Following the article in the Hornsey Journal I got a couple of follow up emails. It turns out another camper van was stolen on the 17th from Albert Road - around half a mile away. Either a big coincidence or its organised. If you own a camper I suggest you clamp it or fit a tracker otherwise it might disappear.

There appears to be some dodgy vehicular activity in general around the Mount View/Granville Roads free parking zone.

We've had 3 big SUVs parked outside for 6 weeks now, both with 2 flat tyres each, one is full of tyres. I've reported them to the council and one has gone, but the others are still there.

I hate not having a CPZ now, and I don't have a car.

http://www.askmid.com/ownvehicle/

http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/application?origin=vehicleEnquiryInfo_en.jsp&event=bea.portal.framework.internal.portlet.event&pageid=Vehicle+Enquiry&portletid=VehicleEnquiry&portletns=VehicleEnquiry_en&wfevent=link.next.

Muswell Hill Journal
...help find our missing hyperlinks etc

Good luck, hope it turns up.

Surely part of the problem here is living in a non-CPZ area near to a CPZ; if there were no CPZ in the area at all, a lot of those problems wouldn't arise, or at least not to the same extent.

You can't have no controlled parking in such a big city, therefore you will always move the problem out to the borders of the CPZ.

On the upper east side we have people kerb crawling of a morning, waiting for people to leave for work so they can park up, then hop on the train at Harringay to get into the City.

Moan moan moan moan moan.

The three SUVs have gone now, so I think the mights roar of Harringay council may have put the willies up them.

I know I have probably spelled one of the Harr... wrong but I can't be bothered to look it up.

Untaxed vehicles are not the reponsibility of the traffic warden. They are identified by the vans drving round with ANPR cameras driven by the DETR's sub contractors. These cheerful fellows have a van full of wheel clamps which they attach to anything that pings up on their screens. Sometimes they have a HIAB lorry an hook them away straight away. Funnily enough they patrol non CPZ areas more for the very reasons you mention. I like the logic of wanting a CPZ when you dont have a car - whats the expression? Is it NIMBY? If I can't use it no one else can. If a car is taxed/insured etc it can park anywhere the driver likes - a bittough if you live in a non CPZ area. I would quite happilly repeal the CPZ where I live - the only time the road is full is at night. During the day my van is the only vehicle out there. Just a revenue generating ploy. If you are so bothered by not having a space outside your house I suggest putting your dustbins out there to mark "your" territory. When those get stolen, you might want to appropriate some police cones used on match days. Good luck. Not bothered about links. I reckon the reason its a non CPZ is because its a public transport desert up there.

Anyway it was a month ago today

CPZs massively reduce the amount of cars parked in a street which in turn makes it a more pleasant place and safer for young Children and older folks etc as there are a lot less cars wizzing around. I consider that the SG Triangle is much pleasanter place because of it. I do agree that on a Friday Saturday the hours should be reduced a bit or maybe the Council should charge variable rates/time for parking depending on time day of the week etc. Also get a family railcard to reduce the costs on the railway as I bet if you costed you car expense properly it will be costing you more to drive. I guess this is probably down to convenience and in the end on where you going. It is easy to do St Albans by train in say 45 to 50 mins for £17 return for 2 Adults and 2 Children You can take friends on the card as well !

I'm going at least three miles from the nearest station - unreachable by public transport.

Two options either the Welwyn Garden City line from Finsbury Park or the St Albans line from St Pancras.

Go and stay for the evening with family and both cost £10 at least per person each way for a 20 to 25 minute journey. With the added hassle of then getting to the final destination and carrying everything you want to take backwards and forwards.

So that's a £40 return journey. Car journey takes the same time and uses about £5 worth of diesel - it's a no brainer.

I do the train regularly too - everytime it drives me crazy how much it costs. How we ever expect people to ditch cars for the less convenient option of public transport when it is so expensive, I'll never know.

The comparison is, of course, that if I get the tube to work it costs me £2.20 and takes 40 minutes. As much as I hate to give more power to TFL, I wonder if the only solution to this is to hand over commuter train lines to it - after all they should be run as a public service not a moneymaker.

Yes.

@ Ali and another thing - Are you seriously suggesting that a family with two kids can survive without a car? What do you expect me to do get the bus to Sainsburys and carry all of the shopping back as well as managing a double buggy. might be an option if people on the bus gave a toss about giving some room. I look at people queuing for the mini cab service at IKEA with incredulity - Whay is all that about? Ditto going to a supermarket and calling a cab? is it just me ?

Why not do a and infrequent Internet shop for big stuff that can be stored which will mean less to carry and then shop more incrementally during the week supporting the local shops that have lost their Customers because no one can park with out a permit ! Or take a ruck sack to Sainsbury’s or when the kids get older make them walk and use the double buggy that’s what I used to do! By whizzing I mean that the volume of cars entering the area has gone down as the drivers have adapted to the fact they can’t park so don’t bother coming to try. Thought you said that you cycled to work

@tosscat - nope I 've got a car - paid tax ,insurance and fuel .Might as well use it. Also minicabs don't usually carry child seats around with them do they? I need two .Otherwise I would probably consider it. Not sure if I understand the class reference perhaps you would like to elaborate. Most of us go to work these days,went to university(poly in my case) etc. Not many of your actual working class left guv'nor.

They were built before cars came along. MaybeBusby might have something about playing on the streets before they got covered in cars

@busman, have you really got 5 cars!? If I was one of your neighbours I'd really hope they were parked off street/out of the way or at least not taking up valuable non-CPZ space! I understand the legality of having them taxed etc. and you can leave them where you like, but where's the social responsibility in that?

I share @Tosscat's comments about the need for CPZ, but it annoys me to see the often empty CPZs compared with the chocker non-CPZ. I have come to accept the inevitability of the zone, short of where it impacts unfairly on those who don't live in one (aka the pincer movement - well done council!), since for every house conversion, there's realistically only one parking space for every 3 to 4 flats.

I, for one, have conceded to not needing a car. Even though I had a company motor for 9 years, it sat largely unused, save for client meetings and the odd nightmare big shop to Sainsbury's. I used to love the rare occasion I'd get to park outside my own house - even a few doors down gave me joy. Now, without one, it cheers me to see the upstairs neighbours' car park out front, but that too is rare (just to counter your NIMBY comment - I'm not the prat with 5 cars). And this probably sounds really anal, but several times I had to write to the DVLA, forced to report untaxed, dumped vehicles in the non-CPZ zone. I find myself checking tax discs even now, and I haven't had the car for nearly a year. Chances are these are the same tossers who hit and run, jump red lights and zebra crossings, are routinely ignorant of highway etiquette and couldn't give a toss.

I now use delivery services for the big shop and when I need to buy bulky items I use streetcar, which frankly I look for excuses to use. I agree that when you have kids, there's a greater need for your own car, and @Papa L sounds like a reasonable scenario to justify one, but few Londoners are so inconvenienced. And the 10 minute journey from the station; I have a similar scenario, albeit without kids, where I get a family member to pick me up, given that in the sticks they pretty much have to own a car.

My point is, if you're serious about not owning a car, I believe there's usually always a way to cope without one if you live in London.

Another one.... my neighbours got nicked last friday on Upper Tollington Park, near the Lancaster Road junction.

Having spoken to our local PCO and the PC from the neighbouring ward where prats with 5 cars tend to leave them it appears they are on the case and have been proactively contacting owners of similar vehicles, and stopping tow trucks which look suspicious which was reassuring to hear. There will be a follow up article published in the Hornsey Journal next week I believe.

Suprisingly enough the first thing the PC who I reported the theft to phoned up Haringey to check this, so no. The second vehicle was stolen from outside the owners house in the CPZ, the third was a resident on Mountview (who parked outside his own house so you can have a cheer) , and the fourth was stolen from Upper Tollington Park , in the CPZ, from outside the owners house , so again have a cheer.

I was refering to the fact that the cars were taken outside their owners house, as they had been able to park outside their own house which apparently makes you cheer when you see it.

Oh yes, I see now. Yes that does make me cheer...but not the thieving part. The screwdriver attack is very concerning too. If the police aren't bothered about it, perhaps this is whats needed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyuKEK7wmsw

yawn