Time to sort out Huntingdon parking before next emergency

I WAS pleased that both myself and fellow district councillor Mike Shellens have been invited to a consultation station in St Luke’s Close, Huntingdon, to listen to residents’ concerns about parking close to Huntingdon Community Centre.

When cars are parked in places that restrict access, not only is it an inconvenience for residents, but a potential matter of life and death. The most recent incident saw an elderly man having to be transported by a stretcher, wheeled along the street, because the ambulance was unable to reach his home. And just think of the potentially fatal consequences of a fire engine being unable to reach the scene of a fire because the engine couldn’t get past parked cars.

The message is clear – drivers must really consider how they would feel if an emergency vehicle could not gain close access to their homes in an emergency. I worry that this latest episode in St Luke’s Close is the tip of an iceberg.

I very much welcome the initiative that Muir Housing Group is taking, and urge all local residents to St Luke’s Close and surroundings, to come to the get-together.

Mike Shellens and I will be there and we look forward to hearing at first hand, the difficulties. I sense this could be the first of many similar meetings across the district in the coming months.

The meeting is on May 28 between 1.30pm and 3pm.

Cllr STE GREENALL

Snowy Way

Hartford