Thursday 10 March 2011

Quashing Anti-Social Behaviour Individualism...

Police and the city council are considering whether a fleet of vehicles, including a military crane, parked in Wolvercote are antisocial.
Oh, FFS. Here we go again. And how can a vehicle be 'antisocial'?
They have written to residents listing seven actions they are taking to try to resolve the long-running feud over the vehicles in Upper Wolvercote.
In other words, they are trying to placate a bunch of people who’ve fallen out with one of their neighbours.

Wiser heads might point out that that cannot end well, but then, it seems they don’t have enough real work to do, so why not?
They all belong to St Peter’s Road resident Nicholas Kravchenko, but locals claim they are antisocial as they are rarely used and many are broken beyond repair.
Are any of them illegal? Unsafe? No? So STFU!
Oxford City Council and local bobbies vowed to examine different laws and powers to find a way to bring the dispute to an end.
In other words, ‘there must be something in here that we can do him for if we look hard enough!’.
Last night residents said peace could only be restored if the vehicles were removed.
What’s to stop him simply getting some more?
Last night, Mr Kravchenko, who drives the crane for his pleasure and displays it at shows and charity events, said the council and police had not contacted him about the dispute and defended his right to park the vehicles in the street.
You know what? I’m with him.

Yes, I realise these things are often six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-the-other, amnd it certainly does seem as if he’s winding them up deliberately, but god, wouldn’t you?

I mean, the council could nip the complaint of excess parking spaces taken up simply by imposing a local parking zone and ramping up the price for additional spaces exponentially, but I doubt that would satisfy the complainers, who seem hell-bent of finding some way for the council to ensure Mr Kravchenko conforms to their idea of what someone should own and do and think.
The council’s Neighbourhood Action Officer Monica Walton and North Oxford sergeant Lis Knight wrote: “I would like to assure you that Oxford City Council and the police are doing everything within their power to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion and to restore the community atmosphere to this part of Wolvercote.”
The ‘community atmosphere’ shouldn’t even be within your purview, you tax-sucking parasites.

7 comments:

Quiet_Man said...

The vehicles are street legal, parked properly and not causing a nuisance to anyone. The guy isn't breaking the law and seems to be targeted because of his neighbours prejudices.
The council and police should tell the neighbours to butt out, but they won't, this will be an opportunity for some petty local tyrant to flex their muscles, they won't be able to resist.

Dr Evil said...

I must say I find on-street parking a damn nuisance as it does obstruct the traffic flow. I'm with the Japanese on this one. if you can't park it off road you can't have it.

David Gillies said...

Chalcedon: that's the beauty of owning a tank. You can park it anywhere.

Mjolinir said...

THIS bit of back-story is from Daily Mail Feb 26 -

//It is not the first time Mr Kravchenko has been under fire over his passion for collecting vehicles.
Last September, Oxford City Council removed a convoy of Mr Kravchenko's vehicles - including five trailers, a Ford Sierra, a Land Rover and some scrap metal - after declaring them abandoned.
But Mr Kravchenko successfully appealed the ruling and on February 1, Oxford County Court ordered the council return the vehicles to him.

I believe this FV434 Armoured Recovery Vehicle' was acquired shortly afterwards...

Kerb your enthusiasm said...

An ex-copper once told me, and I have no way of verifying this, that on-street parking is a concession, not a right. Apparently if they so wished, the fuzz could insist everyone takes their cars off the road when they stop driving.

Now that would be interesting... and I could rent out the unused half of my drive for some exorbitant fee.

Mjolinir said...

@KYE - There ARE (can be) offences of 'unnecessary' or 'wilful' obstruction (Highway Code 242 refers) - but I don't think a case would run well on the basis that; a) "I didn't like the look of the vehicle", or; b) "I wanted to park my own car in that spot'


@Chalcedon //on-street parking ... does obstruct the traffic flow//

The published photos show the ARV parked within the limits of what appears to be a widened portion of the carriageway (aka a 'lay-by')designed to avoid just such a problem - and which other residents said they wished to use for the same purpose.

JuliaM said...

"The council and police should tell the neighbours to butt out..."

Indeed. None of this should be a council or police concern, even if they weren't already bleating about 'cuts'.

"THIS bit of back-story is from Daily Mail Feb 26..."

Aha! So that's why the council are keen to squash him! They don't like losing.

"Now that would be interesting..."

Also impractical, and guaranteed to squeeze the last drop of respect for the police out of everybody.