Bringing down the barriers

On turning into Brinkley Road last night I was greeted not by the familiar green railings of yore by some very sad little heaps of squishy tarmac, a few plastic barriers and some displaced bricks. It seems that the latest fad in improving the street environment is removing anything familiar in the somewhat obscure hope that changing something will give people the feeling they're being looked after..... or not.

Thank goodness we're not in Camden where they removed those horrid, ugly, yellow lines in the road and replaced them with little signs which, if you didn't spot them, meant instant parking ticket:

"The lines on the streets around the British Museum have been replaced by small signs saying restricted zone and metal studs marking loading bays as part of efforts to reduce street clutter."

Even a traffic warden was willing to provide an opinion to the Evening Standard

"The warden, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “People just don’t realise they’re in a restricted zone. They removed the yellow lines, which means if people stop or park on what they deem the carriageway then it’s an instant ticket."

 So what does Camden council have to say about it?

"A council spokeswoman said: “The removal of yellow lines and lines marking out parking bays is part of significant public realm and transport improvements in Bloomsbury. Yellow lines are removed to reduce visual clutter and to reduce the visual segregation of the carriageway and footway"

Heaven forbid anybody would suggest they're selling the metal for scrap to continue funding white elephants such as the Sutton Life Centre or anything but I think my public realm was fine just the way it was thanks....