Bemused residents who have fought for almost a decade for a solution to commuter parking have a council in their line of fire after a yellow paint ‘fiasco’.
Householders at Linslade’s Grange Close awoke to find “idiot” workmen had, without warning, painted single yellow lines the night before the town’s weekly rubbish collection.
But various-sized gaps in the paint show where wheelie bins and cars stood when Central Beds Council’s highways service, Amey, arrived to carry out works in the late hours of July 24.
Complaining about the lack of joined-up thinking, a Grange Road resident who has spent nine years battling with the council for yellow lines, but did not wish to be named, said: “We awoke to find this fiasco. This is a typical saga of council mismanagement.
“No-one had received prior warning not to obstruct Highway’s work and no parking restriction cones had not been placed on the road.
“There are spaces where residents and commuters had parked overnight and where wheelie bins stood awaiting emptying. Highway operators did not move bins aside, just painted up to them. It is completely unprofessional.
“I am pleased to know we are getting the yellow lines after all this time but my issue is they are wilfully wasting
money and we are picking up the bill.
“I question why we are paying so much for an incomplete job by complete idiots.
“But we will win the battle. We will make sure Linslade is a lovely place to live.”
A letter was sent from Amey on July 17 explaining the works would commence in the next week or two, but gave no specific date or time for residents to prepare to move belongings from the street.
The single lines mean there will be no parking on one side of the road from Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 12pm and no parking on the other side between 1pm and 5pm.
However, single yellow lines were not the solution that everyone in Grange Close, Orchard Drive and Woodwide Way was looking for as there was only one vote between the decision to implement the single yellow lines as a result of a resident parking survey carried out in February.
Graham Gill, of Grange Gill, said: “Unfortunately we will now have to put up with the yellow lines. They were still doing it at 10.30pm in the evening; do you see a pattern emerging? Stifling any protests?
“The saddening aspect of this is that both the local council and Central Beds Council have failed to engage with us to discuss our issues and find a resolution. To conclude, all I can say is that Central Beds has a ‘dirty tricks’ department the CIA would be proud of.”