Pedestrians pushed out by badly-parked cars and overgrown hedges

Pedestrians are being forced to tread an ever narrower line as footpaths are blocked by badly-parked cars and overgrown hedges.

Two Voice readers have been compelled to send us these pictures which show a Royal Mail van parked on the path and an encroaching hedge in Bowditch Road, Spalding.
Graham Bingham posed the question: “Why is it Royal Mail and other delivery services feel they have the right to park on the footpath?
“This is not restricted to them, I know, as lots of drivers do this even though driving on the footpath, parking on a cycletrack/cycleway and causing an obstruction on the footpath is an offence.”
Mr Bingham said he had raised the issue with Royal Mail, but the response he received suggested it is happy to continue the way of parking, even though drivers have been advised by police not to.
Mr Bingham added: “I think the drivers believe they are helping other drivers by not blocking the road so much but what about the pedestrians or cyclists – don’t you care about them?
He says by parking fully on the road, traffic will be slowed down but believes it is safer than oncoming cars trying to pass on a road narrowed by a vehicle parked on the path.
Another Voice reader, PV Jeltz, is calling on Lincolnshire County Council to take action to clear footpaths which have been left barely passable by cuts to its highways maintenance budget.
He said: “This example on Bowditch Road shows how over the years the path width has halved due to the lack of proper maintenance of the vegetation and lack of enforcements.
“Lincolnshire County Council was contacted three months ago and said they would write to the landowners, South Holland District Council, but as yet nothing has been done.
“It may well be that a claim due to lack of fund will be said, but this is no comfort for the nearby elderly residents and primary school users that have wheelchairs or pushchairs and those that are forced onto the road to pass.
“I’m sure some private residents will have had letters through their door for similar encroachments and obviously an excuse of ‘I haven’t enough funds at present’ or ‘my funds are being prioritised elsewhere’ probably would fall on deaf ears. It’s one rule for one, it seems.”