Post in Should Brookes students be allowed to have cars?

Aug 11 11:50 UTC

At one time, Oxford University Proctors regulated the use of bicycles by
licensing and registration - they had to have a number allocated by the
Proctors and painted on the mudguard - I think they also needed a special
light. I can vaguely remember this being in force in the early 1970s, though
it might be when it stopped.

Some precedent there perhaps? I can't unfortunately locate any reference to
the old Oxford University statute. But the issue was the same - the
University authorities trying to manage, if not actually control, something
that had an impact on others.

In my road, there is a multiple occupation house near us with 5 people and 5
cars. This means that cars are parked all over the place, sometimes flouting
the 'permissive parking' lines obstructing driveways, or just parking on
yellow lines. There's no attempt by anyone to regulate this by fixed penalty
notice from the Council side, despite the fact that you now have to pay to
leave a car on the street. Some of them have indeed paid, but the issue
isn't so much that it's students, but that such multi-occupation allows this
problem to build up. Agreed that the payment scheme means that they have to
pay a lot for the 3rd, 4th and 5th cars, but if they share it out between
them, it's not so bad. Phoning Control Plus has little effect, and the
parking lines are now so poorly marked out and confusing that I suspect that
it's not enforceable anyway.

What everyone is saying is that there's a problem for everybody in parking,
and that students are causing it because they mostly live in
multi-occupation homes, and often in areas where there isn't much room on
the street anyway. So the evil is muti-occupation, and anything that Brookes
(sorry - nearly wrote 'Poly' - sorry - see next para) can do to make that
less intrusive by supplying accommodation, transport or parking facilities
together with advice to students on the best way to behave responsibly with
their cars in the locality would be welcomed - and they probably do.

When I was at the Poly 1970-74 - guess what - I brought my car (1937 Austin
7 Ruby) to Oxford and kept it at Cotuit Hall, and then later used it to
drive from a rented multi-occupation cottage in Tackley to the campus every
day - and later from Wheatley. So I do know how it feels to be discriminated
against as a student motorist, I did need it to get about, it was parked
safely at Cotuit for two years and didn't cause annoyance, and the issue
about parking and residents was just as lively then as now. Anyone else have
a firm foot in both camps I wonder? "Let them that are without motoring sin
cast the first stones" etc.

David Clover
Kennett Road