Camden New JOurnal - Letters: Victory in struggle over fines

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

Camden New Journal - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 31 May 2007

Victory in struggle over fines-trap lane

• PEOPLE will have noticed that the Bloomsbury Street bus lane was amended by the council in March.
This was a direct result of the pressure put on the council by myself and my group which acts in the interests of the thousands of motorists who travel through Camden daily.
We have pressed non-stop since December 2005 for the alterations to be made.
Basically, the poor, unacceptable design of the old lane made it a trap for motorists. On a small length of road it was, first, a limited hours lane, then a freeway and finally a 24-hour bus lane.
Drivers who went into the freeway lane found it was nearly impossible to get out when the 24-hour bus lane suddenly appeared, mainly because of the sheer volume of traffic. This resulted in thousands of motorists being unfairly fined.
The revised bus lane has no limited hours stretch (so why did the old one?) and the freeway has been made into a 24-hour lane, which joins the old one, thereby making one continuous stretch. This should have been done in the first place.
We feel this is a remarkable achievement by our group and shows what non-stop pressure can accomplish.
The council is difficult to deal with. We had to continually chase up letters over a month old, which remained unanswered.
It was evasive and very sparing with the truth. The standard of work and service was below par.
We would like to thank your paper for the help you gave us, which really aided us in achieving our objectives.
DOUGLAS WALTERS
Sidcup, Kent

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, Camden New Journal, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@camdennewjournal.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Tuesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld. Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment: