The idea of a residents parking permit is a bit of a pain for me.

I can see the arguments of the residents, in that it is very annoying when you can’t get a parking near your house. I know that I get mighty pissed when (due to nearby schools, tea shops and hairdressers) I can’t park close to my house. Especially when I’ve a load of shopping in the boot. If you’re traipsing about with two kids, a pram and an armful from Sainsburys, I can imagine that finding your entire street full of commuters and their cars would be vexing.

On the flip side:

• They’re public roads;
• Commuters are parking there because there’s insufficient parking available in the city centre;
• Some of the lovely concerned residents have a tendency to express their feelings through the destruction of property;
• Charging for resident’s permits seems a little cheeky;

(And on that last point, I was particularly enamoured to find out over the weekend that, while our lovely overlords are throwing about £40 as a cost per permit, the cost of something similar in London Zone 3 is £32…)

Another thing, of course, is that once our beloved eleceted representatives get involved, they’ll screw it up. id est their actual proposal, which includes an annual fee for residents, another fee for regular visitors, and a threat of a big stick for all others. What, pray, of visitors who are only stopping by the once? What of the good few people who ‘rent out’ the front of their houses to commuters? What of hire cars, or deliveries?

These are the things that I’ve been mulling over since the pilot scheme was announced a couple of weeks ago. And then, on my way into work yesterday, I noticed that some of the streets round Donegall Pass had barriers over them and Police bikes encouraging people to take different routes. Turns out that this was another protest, to highlight the plight of the residents.

Apparently they’re going to continue for a while… Joy of joy, more disruption on the way to work of a morning…