On Friday July 29, I decided to take the bus to Tenterden, at lunch time. We came to the bend at Landgate to turn left in the one way system. But lo and behold, we were stuck even though it was only a single decker bus. A “Sure We Can” branded van had parked illegally on the corner with its left side jutting out, blocking the bend. On the right hand side there were bollards which made the turn for the bus seem impossible. The driver of the van was not around. The co-driver who was hanging about said he didn’t know which address the van driver was at and he didn’t have any keys.
We waited 20 minutes, no change. The bus driver then eventually decided to try and get past it, which, with much manoeuvre, he managed to do without scratching either the van or the bus, but it was close.
I don’t like getting people into trouble, but this was thoughtless and arrogant parking, so here is a picture of the van number, hopefully someone he knows sees the pictures and makes clear to him it was unacceptable.
A double-decker bus would not have been able to get past the van. This also is a problem on the High Street, where I saw a van parked on yellow lines on the corner of Lion Street. It would have been very difficult for a car to get round the van coming out of Lion Street into the High Street.
We all know that Rye is difficult for delivery vans, however, we do expect some respect for the rules of parking so others are not inconvenienced.
Photos: Heidi Foster