WHEN it comes to parking spaces, people fall into one of two camps – those who have them and those who don’t.

The drivers lucky enough to have their very own patch of land to park on don’t really understand what the fuss is about. The rest of us, who face a daily game of hunting for an empty strip of road, know only too well that there are simply not enough spaces.

I’m sure that most people forced to drive round their homes in increasingly large circles looking to park each evening have noticed that there are dozens of unused sections of the road, blocked off by infuriating overlong yellow lines or bollards that seemed to have been bolted to the ground at random.

Several times I have seen arguments break out between people waiting for the same space on packed roads and several ‘bumps’ as a driver tries to wedge a people carrier into an imaginary space between two cars.

Most politicians will not have experienced this problem because, I suspect, they drive home to rather more sumptuous surroundings in the evenings and, in the day, have the luxury of private spaces allocated at Pier Road car park, a perk of the job that makes it surprising that they could ever be late for a States sitting.

However, two Members should be applauded for recognising the problem and tackling the parking puzzle.

For the first time in a while, I’m in complete accordance with Deputy Ben Fox. He wants to scour the roads for spaces currently hidden by yellow lines to try to boost parking options for townies.

At a stroke, dozens, if not hundreds, of parking spaces could be found to ease the problem, showing that common sense still exists in some quarters.
Meanwhile, St Helier Constable Simon Crowcroft has mooted the rather radical idea of introducing mechanical stacking systems to some of the smaller car parks.

The idea has its benefits (doesn’t require extra space, would not create huge queues) but is likely to be quite expensive. However, with paycards having gone up by eight per cent, meaning that Islanders pay 66p an hour in car parks, the States should easily be able to afford these hi-tech car parks with enough cash left over to have personal valets on hand to buff your vehicle.

There is a more obvious solution to the parking problem, however, but it would not be popular. Jersey needs to accept that it has too many cars driven by lazy people who must be encouraged (threatened?) to try to live without them.

If you live in town, most trips can be completed on foot or by bicycle and the buses provide access to the other parishes. Jersey is a small Island with a low speed limit, a good climate and a pedestrian-friendly town centre.

Ditching the cars is a viable, eco-friendly solution and I encourage you all to get rid of your four-wheel polluters as soon as possible – I need the parking spaces.