What on earth is going on in Oxhey? Since the council first proposed consulting residents on controlled parking for Oxhey, there has been an increasingly hostile, misleading and incoherent campaign by those opposed to controlled parking that is making life in Oxhey a lot less pleasant.

There are two simple truths – the streets around Bushey Station are used as a free car park by commuters driving to the station, and there are just too many cars, whether owned by residents, commuters or increasingly dumped in the streets to rot. It is noticeable that residents who very much welcome controlled parking have been quiet and kept their heads down and it is not hard to work out why.

I attended the consultation meetings and witnessed the most bad-tempered, hostile questioning of councillors and officers by those who clearly were not going to be placated. These people were angry in a way that was reminiscent of the Leave campaign and its most ardent supporters. Over summer the Oxhey Residents Facebook page was transformed from a place where lost dogs could be reported and plumbers recommended into something resembling a platform for hate speech (this is not the fault of the page administrator but those posting their bilious views). I hold no brief for the local councillors or the LibDem party but the amount of anger directed towards them – and anyone who supported a CPZ was outrageous.

And then we had a mystery survey “By residents, for residents” appear through our doors in August, the purpose of which was very clear, to suggest that the council was withholding information and a CPZ was not the answer. The fake survey proposed a number of options, all of which belong in the magic unicorn category of reality. It is curious that the authors of this survey did not identify themselves or state what their true objection to a CPZ is.

Let us take just one of the options proposed – the demolition of the existing garages in Oxhey and their re-use as car parking bays. In other words, council tax payers’ money should be spent to compulsorily purchase someone else’s property in order to provide parking bays for an area which already has too many cars. Another one was that residents should be able to park in the station car park for free in the evenings (again, subsidised by someone else). You could not make it up!

The real issue is that Oxhey is choked with vehicles and there are broadly two ways that we can go ahead – a continued free-for-all or some managed option. This is where the incoherence of those opposed to a CPZ is most exposed. The fake survey made much of the issue that houses would only be issued with two permits and not three or four, whilst at the same time acknowledging that it is residents, not just commuters who are responsible for the mess. So which is it? The average terraced house in Oxhey is around sixteen feet wide, now you may have a right to park two, three or four cars in your street, but if everyone else does then no wonder the streets are so full.

The angry people do not of course have any answers, because they appear to want to be angry and propose magic unicorn solutions rather than face the real issues. The new block of flats next to the Railway Arms has 18 flats and no parking, but the real monster will be the Bushey Arches development of 151 flats and 69 parking spaces, bringing dozens of more cars and every right to park in the streets of Oxhey.

We can continue to delude ourselves, indignantly insist on our right to park where we like or we can get real and accept that the situation has to be managed somehow and alternatives sought. After a decade of austerity public transport is hopelessly under-resourced - that is something to get really angry about. Cycling, walking, car-sharing and the encouragement of non-internal combustion vehicles all have to be considered as real alternatives.

There is nothing outrageous about the council’s last proposal – that the streets where the majority of residents wanted a CPZ (which co-incidentally are those with the least off-street parking) should have their way, and those who did not want it should not. If the residents of Oxhey do not indicate their support now then it will be another five or perhaps ten years before this comes back again. I hope that the majority of people face up to reality this time.

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