Volunteers with cameras to catch drivers parking illegally in Portishead

“If there is one thing that strikes me about the town I live in, where the council has proven to be both self serving and disloyal to the residents, it is that Mrs Hennessey, although outspoken, has always approached matters that the council are prepared to not tackle head on.
For someone like patcrose (please let us know what you have ever done for the community) to trawl through these forums simply to downgrade comments left by Mrs Hennessey and make cheap comments is what I have come to expect from the councils direction.
I am sure that there are many fishermen from the town and beyond who are very happy that Mrs Hennessey campaigned to reopen access to the pier, there are many local people young and old who are more than happy that Mrs Hennessey put a lot of effort into help save the pool, the pool the council wanted closed. There are many people happy that she has worked so hard and long to expose the wrongdoings of councillors who still refuse to represent public opinion, many drivers who have seen her campaign about traffic problems in the High Street. The list is endless I should imagine. In fact, if I recall she won an award for her services to the community a few years ago.
Over those same years what ideas have our councillors come up with? Increased allowances and pensions, closing a school knowing that demand was on the increase for places, suggested using our money to supply themselves with laptop computers, spent more money on Council Office premises than has been spent on the leisure facilties of the county, cut services to young people, cut services to old people, cut services across the board to all bar themselves, openly lied to meet their own ends, suggested free use of Folk Hall rooms for their political meetings when everyone else has to pay, been involved in suspect meetings with developers, suggested one of their own should be Mayor?, want to bring in pay & display machines in residential streets..... the list is endless and all have been detrimental to the town.
There seems to be a very deeprooted problem within our council chambers and I for one, actually for two, as my husband who was once a local councillor elsewhere, can see exactly why this lady would not want to belong to such an undemocratic self serving group that shame our town. But patcrose at least she has the courage to use her own name on these forums and has soemthing to offer, you do not.”

“Wish I had enough spare time in my life to play at being traffic wardens.”

“Firstly I think AH is more than capable of running a Councillor Watch on her own. She's had enough practice over the years but never has the courage to stand for election to see if Portishead residents agree with her views. What about it Ms Hennesy?
Secondly for Hillcran's benefit the Council has never employed traffic wardens.it was the police who renamed them Community Support Officers and then changed their job spec. Parking enforcement is still a police responsibility unless of course you accept pay and display on street in the town. Only then can the Council take enforcement action like they have in Weston.”

“With the Speedwatch no one received fines as only someone caught by the Police can get a fine, instead the Police sent out letter reminding them of their speed. I guess a photo is better evidence than Speedwatch list of number plates and the speed but cant see anything happening apart from a warning”

“People parking illegally is a problem is it ? You should see what goes on in the toilets opposite my home. We can't get the police to anything about it. Can the man in the picture please come on down with his camera !”

“One of the first noticable changes that struck me as odd when I first moved to Portishead was in hearing that they were doing away with the traffic warden because they could not afford to employ one. It seemed even stranger that two years later the same councillors who had made that decision sat in the town hall and voted for themselves to recieve a huge increase in expenses and an opt in pension scheme. So that was affordable and yet a traffic warden not. Surely if the parking is that bad a traffic warden position would soon pay for itself?”

“Park Watch? I think having spent two days giving out fact sheets on another subject in Portishead to correct misinformation, I may just go along to that council meeting on Wednesday evening, Folk Hall at 7.30 p.m. and recommend that residents set up a scheme for a Councillor Watch. Residents have asked for town council meetings to be recorded and even videod to ensure the public only receives correct and accurate information. We could then send the video links to anyone who wasn't at the meeting and the council standards board if necessary if there is a breach of the code of conduct.

If Mr Pasley is so keen on volunteers, "Councillor Watch" could use the same idea. "Volunteers would become the local eyes and ears and hopefully the fact that councillors know they are being watched may make them think twice about how they behave".

"This has been a problem for some time and makes the community very frustrated".

No wonder Avon & Somerset Police would not give a comment to the reporter about this latest story involving a town and district councillor.”

“I'd quite like to do a job like this officially. Filing them in my catalogues of naughty drivers and sending hate mail to the offenders doesn't give me the kick I need currently”

“busy bodies”

“I wonder how many fights that will cause?

Actually its not a bad idea. I might try that on my road where all the church goers on a Sunday think its ok to park on double yellow lines.

I'm not sure why its costing a grand though. How many cameras are they buying? You can pick them up from ebay for 30 quid!”