Finding a parking spot in Rye takes skill, cunning and local knowledge says Julie McLaren.
I’m thinking of applying to appear on Dragons’ Den. I’ve had an idea for a board game and, in my opinion, it’s really good. Combining, as it does, elements of strategy, quick thinking and luck, I’m sure it would do well. I wanted to call it Frustration, but that name has already been used so at the moment it has the descriptive working title: “Parking in Rye.”
I haven’t worked out all the details yet, but I can envisage a Monopoly-style board around which the participants would move their pieces (little cars in various colours) in order to achieve the aim of the game which is to find a parking space.
The board would depict the familiar map of Rye, with parking spaces highlighted. As the pieces are moved on the throw of a dice, the participants encounter various obstacles and hurdles to parking their vehicle. These would include, but not be restricted to: spaces that have become unusable due to somebody parking with two wheels on the dividing line with the adjoining space; spaces completely blocked by random parking “just for a few minutes”; whole car parks made inaccessible for long periods by delivery drivers blocking a road (miss a turn); car parks full (move your piece round and round until your next turn or alternatively give up in disgust and return to Start).
Participants would also have the opportunity to win tokens that endow them with qualities likely to enhance their chances of finding a space. Ruthlessness would be one, and would enable the player to reverse dangerously into a space already chosen by someone else. Tenacity would be another, and would allow the player to remain in the same car park for long periods when there is no hope of a space, with no penalty. Recklessness, a highly-prized quality, would enable the player to park absolutely anywhere they liked regardless of lines on the road, yellow or otherwise.
As you can see, this game is in the early stages of development. I have not worked out how to include the joys of street parking and would welcome suggestions about that, and indeed any other elements of parking that come to mind. I have no idea how the winner would be declared or how long it might take for such a thing to happen. What if no-one ever wins? What if one of the players becomes so frustrated that they sweep the whole thing onto the floor, most probably losing one or more of the colourful little cars? In fact, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it is such a good idea after all. I’m already on medication for high blood pressure. Perhaps I’ll stick to reading.
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Image Credits: Col Everett .
You could include people without a badge parking in blue badge spots
This is rubbish. Finding a parking place in Rye has never been easier. Gone are the days when many cars were parked all day every day throughout the High Street, Cinque Ports Street, all of the side streets, down Lion Street’s pavements and on corners preventing ambulances, fire engines and essential deliveries from getting through. Thank goodness!I am sure we all remember cashpoint corner! On street charging has put a stop to these abuses, loading bays mean deliveries to shops and hotels can take place without blocking streets, holding up traffic and disabled drivers no longer have to resort to parking on dounble yellow lines, although some still do. The Market Car park offers amazing value for money as does Gibbets Marsh, although of course anyone parking there is faced with having to walk for five minutes into town – horror! Seriously, now that on street charging restricts the amount of time anyone can leave a car for, the turnover of spaces is guaranteed and regular. I have never failed, as I often did in the past, to find a space somewhere, just maybe not always exactly where I wanted to shop.
Really? I live in the town and things have improved a lot since pay and display. I rarely bother to try and park in the High Street though and favour our local supermarket carpark for free 30 minutes always complying with purchasing some very reasonably priced goods, easy peasy!
May I add another risk factor to be taken into account in the game? Parking in a privately controlled car park (like the one at Wish St by the brick sculpture of a boat, near the end of the harbour).
If you are clever enough to pay for parking on the machine, you need to be ultra careful not to overstay the time you paid for. If by any chance you do, their ANPR logs the time you left, (eg by 11 minutes) and issues a very high parking fine by post.
Looking at internet sources on whether these fines are legal, or can be appealed against, it appears that if you could claim the parking instructions hadn’t been visible, you might get an appeal. But if you actually paid, that defence won’t work. So 11 minutes can cost you £60!