Flowers and Cars

 Why do some people pick wild flowers?
 
Can’t they see the benefits of leaving things alone or is the temptation just too much?
 
Guess it’s the same with paid parking. There’s all these temping revenues that are oh so easy to pluck and it will make everything so much better.
 
Guernsey doesn’t want and doesn’t need paid parking.
 
There is a minority in favour of the idea but they seems to be driven by a general hatred of cars or a concern for the welfare of the planet. They would prefer it if cars were de-invented but that’s not going to happen.
 
It would be nice if everyone used the buses but again that’s not going to happen. You might persuade commuters to use a proper park and ride scheme with free shuttle buses into Town to reduce congestion but that would need large out of town car parks and a willingness to do something properly for a change.
 
You cannot improve the bus service by crippling its competitor, the car. It doesn’t work like that unless you want to impose draconian laws. People just aren’t willing to forgo the convenience of the car for the unpredictability and inflexibility of the bus.
 
I know Environment won’t be too concerned about where all of this nice new revenue comes from, but who is this stealth tax going to hit? The wealthy won’t mind too much and the corporates don’t really care. It’s the ordinary folk who will bear the brunt as usual.
 
There’s an idea to tax private parking spaces as well but where will that end?
 
I know there’s lots who’d be happy to hit the occupants of Custard Castle but are they also happy to charge nurses and teachers to go to work? They’re civil servants as well you know.
 
Then there’s the tourists.
 
Guernsey has already lost a lot of its unique charm in the headlong rush to make it just like the UK. Just think how happy those few who still visit will be when they find out that they get charged for parking just like at home. That’ll make them really feel welcomed.
 
Maybe it’s just as well to keep the tourists out of Town because there won’t be to many shops for them to visit. If the Internet wasn’t bad enough, there’s now another reason not to pop into Town.
 
Yes, there are too many cars on the Island.
 
It’s because there are too many people on this Island. Cars don’t yet drive themselves and every family worth their salaries wants to have a car each just to add to the problem.
 
Guernsey wasn’t built to cope with the number of people now living here and we don’t have the space to create the infrastructure to support them.
 
We can’t do Bus Lanes, we can’t do Car Pool lanes, and we can’t even build an underground car park let alone a Tube system.
 
So, what’s the answer?
 
I don’t know.
 
Maybe some form of decent population control but they seem to have made a hash of that as well.

Whatever way is found out of this mess, paid parking isn't the way forward.