Park & Ride

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. I wondered what gave them the right to drive over the pavement, ignore the height restrictions and (as I saw for myself) park their caravan(s) on the roadway within the park, making it difficult to negotiate and park your car legally. Now I know.

Now I can appreciate that they can actually flout and break the rules that everyone else has to abide by, simply because they are erudite, hygenic, religious folk.

The clue is in the title... It's a park and ride, not a park & park, a holy caravan park nor a park & pray.

Go back and have another look.

Parts of the Park and Ride are actually designated for caravans.

How does that make sense? "They" don't want caravans, but "they" set aside part of the whole thing for caravans??????

Doubtless, when the Festival starts, we'll see some more....... But that'll be different, won't it.

Are the caravans IN the 'designated areas' - NO! They are spread out all over the place.

Well, it's true that they aren't in the designated caravan bit........... But spread out all over the place?

As far as I could see, they've confined themselves pretty much to the far end of the park.

And there are still 534 spaces available according to the sign just before the entrance.

Be that as it may, I for one won't be parking my car in any of the 534 free spaces that are in the middle of, or beside any of their vehicles.

From what I've seen, most other 'legitimate' users are of the same opinion, but feel free to exercise your compassionate views by parking in amongst them, talking to them and generally defending their abuse of the park & ride, by their ignorance and disobedience of the rules and the incovenience they cause the people who DO use it properly.

Well, a police officer has just told me that while most of them are decent and well behaved, there have been a number of compaints about a small rogue element.

As for the illegal use of the Park and Ride, I seriously wondered if they had been directed to go there by Edinbugh Cooncil because of a lack of any other more suitable facility in the Edinburgh area.

is there no a law says they hav tae huv parks te bide in ye cannae change a bairn whiles yer drivin

So the park and ride is closed to law abiding citizens who wish to park and indeed ride...

http://www.lothianbuses.com/more-info/news.html

Total madness as ever with the law-abiding people losing out because of a minority group. Why is there now rule about overnight parking at P&R sites then anyone who does could be prosecuted / fined /clamped / towed away without any hassle over legal papers. (Or is that just too sensible).
I was amazed at the sight of the site this morning when the 47 went through and wonder if the cars parked there will be covered by their insurers, since they do like to get out of paying claims any way they can!

musicman wrote:

So the park and ride is closed to law abiding citizens who wish to park and indeed ride...

http://www.lothianbuses.com/more-info/news.html

Aye, there's nothing more infectious than paranoia and irrational fear.

Apparently Sainsbury's has complained about the travellers only coming in to use their toilets........

Long before ever the travellers arrived, there was a sign in the Gents at Sainsbury's saying Please do not sit in the urinals as they are not designed to be used that way.

Honest, I'm not making that up! And it suggests to me that Sainsbury's toilets have already seen more "interesting" patrons than these travellers.

Thanks for letting me know about the closure. There were a number of puzzled looking people who left the bus at the stop just before Sainsbury's this evening though. I also noticed a police van going into the park and ride as we were passing it.

rubbereye wrote:

Aye, there's nothing more infectious than paranoia and irrational fear.

Nothing irrational about the fear caused by buses being stoned by the kids in the travellers camp. Nothing irrational about the fear caused by the kids standing in the path of cars this morning, blocking them and refusing to move. Nothing irrational about the fear caused by abuse given to Sainsbury's staff when they pointed out to two travellers they could not buy alcohol outwith legal hours (and no, it wasn't communion wine)...

I can't understand why you are still defending these dregs. The rubbish you failed to see on your first visit is now very much in evidence, and I doubt they have any more intention of removing it themselves than the previous lot. They even left junked caravans to be taken away by the council at taxpayers (mine and yours) expense. They are parked so haphazardly there is a real danger to anyone thinking of going in.

So much for, "they're not all the same", "give them the benefit of the doubt", "these ones are here for a religious festival so that should be OK"

Seriously, can't you see they deserve the suspicion & treatment they get, and they bring it on themselves whilst moaning about 'their rights and way of life' They don't deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt, they've proved this by their actions time and time again. Time to stop pussyfooting around and .. oh I give up, you are obviously too kind-hearted and forgiving a soul to acknowledge that these people are scum and care nothing about the fear, squallor, abuse, intimidation and inconvenience they inflict on decent people

If I were a more forgiving person, I would not wish that you could personally experience some of the grief caused by this bunch of scum and by so doing have your eyes opened by experience (as Dickens put it), but I'm not, so I do.

It seems that many people (apart from rubberyeye) are worried about the travellers judging by this article in the Evening News today:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Residents-raise-fears-over-citys.6426818.jp

No mention of the Straiton situation though!

Could get worse as their religious mission thingy is in Aberdeen this week and not due in Edinburgh until next:

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1827489

SamTyler wrote:

It seems that many people (apart from rubberyeye) are worried about the travellers judging by this article in the Evening News today:
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/Residents-raise-fears-over-citys.6426818.jp

No mention of the Straiton situation though!

It's worth reading that article through...... especially the comments of the police and the cooncil. They knew it was coming.

Residents in the Gypsy Brae area in Granton said they were "very worried" about the mass gathering which is expected to attract around 400 caravans and 1,500 visitors to the Gypsy Brae Recreation Ground.

Several shots were fired during a four-hour brawl at an event in 2004, also held at the recreation ground on West Shore Road, resulting in two people requiring hospital treatment. Six people ended up in court.

Organisers of the six-day convention, Light and Life Gypsy Church convention, today said it would be peaceful and they would have a tight control of all activities.

But one resident, a 27-year-old living on nearby West Harbour Road, said he was "very worried" about the event, planned for July 25 to 31.

He said: "I don't think the council should have allowed this. If only a hundred people caused that many problems last time, imagine what could happen this time."

A spokesman for the City Council said travellers had worked closely with police and the council's events organisation body and had ensured that suitable stewards, cleaners and toilets would be on site.

Traveller Jackie Boyd, 45, who planned the festival, said they held events every year and had only once experienced trouble.

He said: "We've been careful to get the right facilities and it'll be a fun family event. We're having games for kids, gospel services and a barbecue. We plan to go up a week beforehand to set up and all the locals are invited.

"Gypsies today act very differently to how it was back in the past. We're all bringing our caravans up for a peaceful time."

Police said they would constantly be present on the site, and a council spokesman confirmed the group had paid a fee so that the area could be returned to normal after the travellers left.

Local councillor Cammy Day said that while he realised there was "cause for concern" he was confident the event would attract visitors to the area.

He said: "I believe it will be a good feature for north Edinburgh. The group have learned from their mistakes and have been incredibly thorough."

He added: "I hope I'm not saying something different afterwards."

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: "The Council and its partner agencies have been working closely with the Light and Life Gypsy Church in the lead-up to the event.

And SR, trust me, I ain't no christian and I don't have a forgiving nature. The fact is that, right now, some of my neighbours and I are having serious problems with vandalism perpetrated by kids from the new army houses at Milton Bridge. What do you suggest we do? Campaign to have the Army disbanded?

The Evening News have finally caught up with the story:

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Gypsies-invade-park-and-ride.6428671.jp

I see they are using the name "gypsies" to describe them which is not true - they just like to use that for extra publicity!

Or because "travellers" wouldn't fit in the headline, maybe!

Well, the bus I was on this morning pulled into the park and ride. I don't know if the driver just forgot about the ban on using it or whether it has been lifted. In any case there didn't appear to be any commuter cars and we didn't pick anyone up.

Statement addresses stone throwing but not other behaviour...
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Gypsies-invade-park-and-ride.6428671.jp

Squirrel's Revenge wrote:

Statement addresses stone throwing but not other behaviour...

Doesn't it?

First paragraph, second page.

"If there is a problem we would like someone to tell us about it and will put it right."


Just a few other points.

If this eviction goes ahead, I think we can be assured of a lot of litter. I don't imagine they'll be given much chance to tidy up........ as usual.

They'll probably stay somewhere in the area at least until after their Christian Festival thingy, but not in our backyard........ Or who knows, maybe it will be your backyard.

If the cooncil - who knew well in advance about this event, had got its act together and provided a site (travellers normally expect to pay about £50 per vehicle) none of this would be happening.

Surprise, surprise, travellers are - believe it or not - tax payers too. They often take short term employment in all kinds of places and pay tax under the PAYE system. Others work on building sites at get tax deducted at source under the CIS scheme. I even know with certainty that there is a settled traveller working for the BBC.

There is no homogenous travelling community. It's lots of seperate communities. They are not "all the same."

Christ above, what's wrong with you people? First you were whining about how we were all going to be murdered in our beds by the occupants of that place next to Beeslack. Next, you were whining about the staff at Somerfields. And now it's travellers...........

Are you only happy when you've got something to moan about or, best of all, someone to hate?

(I exclude Chris from these remarks. He's the only one of you that ever does something more positive than whine.)

This forum is not, I think, representative of Midlothian. So stick it. I will leave you all to wallow in your pathetic and negative misanthropy and make this my last post.

Sadly, I'm afraid that once again it's a case of a few 'bad apples' giving the rest a bad name. It's the same as those people who seem think that all kids are neds and that there is no future for them. Of course there are a minority that are beyond help, but they shouldn't all be tarred with the same brush. Part of the problem of course is that every time you read a newspaper or watch the news on tv it seems as if there have been more stabbings, murders or abuse of some kind. It really isn't as bad as it seems. Most of the time they are follow-ups to cases that have happened, gone to court, been convicted/released and then appealed their conviction.

An interesting article about the Gypsy way of life
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/New-cameras-put-city-in.6431078.jp#5409696

Link should be: http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/topstories/Travelling-towards-a-better-understanding.6431136.jp

I particularly enjoyed the irony of the quote "gypsy culture is built upon strict codes of cleanliness learnt over centuries of life on the road."

Tell that to the people who have had to clean up after them.

This mornings mess includes quite a lot of empty cider cans I noticed.

I also noticed that one has now parked their caravan horizontally across one of the rows of bays blocking the entire section off completely to anyone, legitimate user or not.

'This mornings mess includes quite a lot of empty cider cans I noticed'

What exactly is your point?