Parking near Kings College Hospital

[the-e-dealer]

Its awful . I live near a Park and a Church people park in my road!

[giggirl]

Sorry Dawn but I'm really not feeling this.

The fact is that you have chosen to work in a workplace that does not provide you with a parking space. If it is absolutely necessary for you to drive to and from work and you cannot take public transport (e.g. drive to a station in Kent and catch a train from that station to Denmark Hill) then you must leave this job and find a workplace that meets all your needs. Maybe even a hospital in Kent so that the environment benefits from a shorter commute? Or, if you must continue to drive to SE London then why not park a mile or two away and either walk or catch the bus. You have many options you know, you don't have to park in Grove Park.

We live/work in London and the reality is that most of us must use public transport to get to and from our jobs. Once I had a job with a parking space and it was lovely and I felt pampered on a daily basis, but that's long gone and now ride the 176. Yes it would be nice to drive myself from door to door but it simply isn?t viable and that's that.

If I had a magic wand and overnight I built a multi-storey car park for 300 cars next to Kings then do you think that would solve your problem? No, it wouldn?t, because no matter how many car spaces there were it would never be enough. All the people who are currently taking the bus/train to work would make a most convincing case as to why they now need drive instead; all the top brass would pull rank to get a space; and all the visitors currently taking the bus will want to drive instead. So the reality is that Kings doesn?t have sufficient parking facilities and as much as we might wish otherwise, we have to deal with it now it is.

Yes you absolutely have a legal right to park in Grove Park but what I?m picking up from your posts is a sense of entitlement. Sorry if I?m reading something into your posts that you didn?t intend to be there.

[the-e-dealer]

OP's car has been damaged twice, I'd be p*ssed off if some selfish c*nt did that to my car.

[giggirl]

The OP merely states that her car has been damaged whilst parked. She doesn't give any more information than that.

So, on the basis of the limited information given, I would say that parked cars being damaged is a risk you take. It happens all the time. Same thing could have happened whilst the car was parked outside her own house.

If and when the OP offers further information on the circumstances of the damage then it will be fair to make comment, but otherwise I think it is best not to jump to conclusions.

[Loz]

giggirl Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yes you absolutely have a legal right to park in Grove Park but what I?m picking up from your posts

> is a sense of entitlement. Sorry if I?m reading something into your posts that you didn?t intend

> to be there.

I got that feeling, and also from cheryl42. I think it was the line that Hugo picked up on especially.

[Chippy Minton]

Sorry giggirl, but I find it ridiculous that you're suggesting someone should actually leave their job because they don't like their car being damaged or having notes left on it even though they have parked perfectly legally on a public highway!

[giggirl]

Chippy Minton Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Sorry giggirl, but I find it ridiculous that

> you're suggesting someone should actually leave

> their job because they don't like their car being

> damaged or having notes left on it even though

> they have parked perfectly legally on a public

> highway!

Sorry Chippy Minton but I find it ridiculous that you're attempting to put words into my mouth that I simply aren't there.

[the-e-dealer]

There must be two giggirls !

[Chippy Minton]

If it is absolutely necessary for you to drive to and from work and you cannot take public transport (e.g. drive to a station in Kent and catch a train from that station to Denmark Hill) then you must leave this job and find a workplace that meets all your needs.

Maybe I've interpreted this sentence incorrectly? Are you just suggesting they should leave their job because they have to drive to work?

[the-e-dealer]

No that was the other giggirl!

[Jeremy]

You can't blame an individual for parking on a street, when their employer (which is not in central London) does not provide parking. If the residents are so concerned, they should be asking their councillors for residents parking.

[giggirl]

What I wrote in my post is that the OP has options available to her. She can take public transport (as most of us have to). She can drive and park further away from the hospital and then walk or take a bus. Or, if she feels that she absolutely must have a car parking space and her employer is not offering her one and it's a deal-breaker then she can always find an employer that meets all of her needs. Another option for her is to continue to park in Grove Park but this seems to be causing her distress (?it is very hurtful?) is how she described it.

What is not sitting so well with me is a sense of entitlement. Again, I apologise to the OP if I am interpreting her incorrectly, but this is how her posts came across to me. Grove Park is not a controlled zone and she is able to park there legally and without any interference (i.e. notes on windscreens, vandalism, dirty looks or whatever else).

As other posters on this thread have already pointed out, it is wrong for Grove Park residents to leave notes or otherwise intimidate the OP. However, if Grove Park is being used as a car park by Kings hospital workers then this is going to cause resentment and that is a fact and that is human nature.

It is pointless to pass judgement on the residents of Grove Park for not being understanding or leaving stupid notes. The fact is, there is a problem and there is friction there and it?s not going to be resolved by anything we post here.

Until such time as the OP comes back on here to clarify that her car was damaged as a malicious act of vandalism by a resident of Grove Park then I refuse to jump to conclusions on the matter. My car was damaged whilst parked outside of my house three times. It wasn't vandalism; it was careless driving. It happens.

To conclude, I don't believe the friction with Grove Park residents will go away any time soon. The OP is perfectly at liberty to continue to park there (and should be able to do so without interferrence). The OP also has other options available to her.

[Chippy Minton]

I don't read any sense of entitlement into the OP - she's just seems to be genuinely asking for "a little understanding."

I accept there is some sense of entitlement from another subsequent poster, but to be fair, they are perfectly "entitled" to park wherever they want if there's no CPZ there.

[giggirl]

Yes I'm sure you're right that the OP was simply asking for some understanding. I may very well have read something into her posts that wasn't there. If I did that then I apologise.

I don't think "understanding" will help. Kings has parking needs which are not being met and using a residential street as a car park is inevitably going to cause resentment. We can all take the moral high-ground and make the Grove Park residents out to be the bad-guys, but it won't help. Of course she can continue to legally park in Grove Park. That's undisputed.

[ontheedge]

When the congestion charge was introduced it was amazing how many suddenly didn't feel the need to drive to work, as a non driver I managed to work in the community for many years. I remember attending a recruitment selection study day and was told that in London you can't discriminate against non drivers because public transport is so good. With good planning public transport works and is often quicker than looking for a parking space, however the ?5K extra of London weighting is an attractive draw to those outside inner London which includes Camberwell.

[minder]

Of course the poster can park where she likes but I thought she came across as quite self-righteous.

dawn points out that "while parking is not permit only King's staff will continue to park in a convenient place".

Convenient for her. Just a thought about the car vandalism. How do people in the street know she works for King's?

That might be good for her, for now, (parking) but where would she park if it was permit parking only then?

dawn probably doesn't realise that she (not her individually) is probably going to bring about parking permit only in Grove Park.

Then it goes on to the next street, and so on, until we are all having to pay to park where we live.

[womanofdulwich]

MInder, I am 100% certain that that is the long term aim of government. We will have to pay to park on the street and there will be an extra levy on you if you have off street parking. Allpartof the green and sustainable agenda.

[StraferJack]

Unless the residents of Grove park never drive anywhere outside the borough and ONLY park in designated car parks and NEVER park in a convenient spot I fail to understand how anyone can complain about dawn parking where she parks

This parochialism is embarrasing

If dawn was complaining about driving from kent and neede to find a parking spot but couldn't find any, I would see why people might think her entitled

but she drives to work, finds a free parking space and uses it. Nowt wrong with that. What she is complaining about is being hassled for so doing

[the-e-dealer]

I live near a park and a Church, People park in my road to use them Does my blood boil ? Do I leave silly notes? . Do I vandalise their cars? . I wonder if any of the Church or Park users are from Grove park? I remember once when people living near Denmark Hill Station Complained about the noise of the announcements!

[bil]

If this person is not obstructing a driveway or is not parking in a restricted area e.g disabled bay, red zone etc surely they should be able to do so without this "harassment"- verbal or written. How can anyone leave such a note? Owning a property or residing in a property on a particular road does not give you priority over the public land. I would be irritated if I couldn't park within close proximity to my home; so i wouldn't live close to a station or hospital unless i had access to off street parking.

All the people who say "use a bus!" can say it until you are "blue" in the face but the reality is that the bus is crap and people will choose a car as an easier (and cheaper) option. The public transport available in this area is overcrowded, infrequent & slow. Using public transport to visit patients at home can be a nightmare! time that could be spend working is spent waiting or sitting in traffic and there are few routes which are direct. The return journey to see one patient in parts of SE London could take 40-60 minutes. Walking with a trolley to carry equipment is often impractical but sometimes necessary and still time inefficient.

Hospitals should have their own cars or a car pool for staff use during the day which are parked on site. So Kings take responsibility for this. They should also encourage staff to share car journeys.

[the-e-dealer]

OP says part of her job is visiting during the day.

[dawn]

Dear giggirl, I definitely don't feel a sense of entitlement to parking in Grove Park. Whilst it is a free parking zone however you can't blame me for continuing to do so. The two episodes of damage were dents in the roof of my car, and the bumper torn off. I do sympathise with house owners getting frustrated, we also have cars parked outside our house, in one case for about 2 months without being moved. Parking in London is always a problem, but like I said when I first posted, coming back to my car at the end of a hard day to a hostile note, or damage is very unpleasant.

Thank you for your interest though.

[giggirl]

You absolutely have every right to park and I don't blame you for anything at all and if someone has damaged your car intentionally then that's unacceptable and yes I would be hurt if someone damaged something of mine.

Nobody has the right to be territorial about the space outside their house; it is not "their" parking space. I used to have a neighbour when I lived in Melbourne Grove who used to leave me notes if I parked in "his" space. So I do understand, really. I think anyone who interferes with you or your car is wrong to do so. To clarify, I think you're right and they're wrong but honestly, I don't think you being right and them being wrong is going to help.

[citizenED]

Solution: Dawn to move to Grove Park. Sorted

[Pugwash]

If you are visiting patients in the community check with Kings as to how your can apply for a 'medical' parking badge.

I work at Kings and other hospitals, and also in the community but my employers pay for an all southwark resident parking permit. Some of my colleagues have a 'medical permit'for Southwark. When I worked for Lambeth in the same type of work, they refused to pay for permits and parking fines. We had to rely on public transport which made doing home visits, usually taking about an hour, plus anything upto 1.5 hours travelling time by bus and we would get moaned at for being out of the office for almost half a day. Had we been able to use our cars, live would have been easier.