Elm Grove: part of the highway or a walkway?

It is a menace to those who live in Elm Grove – and I suspect that many of the vehicles parked here are not owned by people who actually live here.

I recently walked to the bottom of Elm Grove and was disgusted to see what people are getting away with; cars parked tightly together, diagonally across the pavements, the ends hanging off into the road, leaving not enough space on the pavement.

Every day I see people driving down the pavement to get in and out of parking spaces. I don’t understand why they are getting away with such selfish and dangerous driving.

It is a great pity the pavements were made so wide in the first place, as now people think they have the right to behave in this preposterous way.

The sooner Elm Grove is law-abiding and safe, the better. At the moment, it looks like the Wild West.

I am not interested in people moaning about not having anywhere else to park. Wake up!

Brighton and Hove is a busy city now, not a little seaside resort.

Whoever heard of a city where people can park for free on their doorstep? Grow up!

Get a bus pass or go and live somewhere else.

Shirley Cormack, Elm Grove, Brighton

Having witnessed the near death of a toddler in a pushchair brought about by a car driving down the pavement in Elm Grove, I found it quite typical of this faction that he just drove off.

I have seen three children narrowly missed by cars being driven in this way. Not one of them had the sense to reverse out so as to protect pedestrians using the footpath.

In our democracy we all have to obey laws which we may not entirely agree with and not driving on footpaths has been there for a long time.

It’s about time some enforcement helped the pedestrians of our city, and those of us who have to watch while the Elm Grove bullies make them leap aside.

Stewart Gover, Elm Grove, Brighton

Yet again, more persecution of car drivers with the parking issues in Elm Grove.

I am in my 60s and for as long as I can remember vehicles have always parked off-road there.

The pavements in Elm Grove are three times wider than most areas so why can’t the council allow cars to park next to the road, leaving adequate space for pedestrians?

If this council wants to do something about illegal parking, it should stop the lorry and van-dwellers and university students and staff from parking in Stanmer Park.

This problem can only get worse as the universities gets bigger. Still, I suppose the council can’t make pots of money out of this unless it starts charging people to use the park...

Linda Barber, Sutton Close, Woodingdean

I walked down Elm Grove the other day and encountered no obstructions, and certainly not from cars parked on the wide Tarmaced area between the pavement and the road.

There was some inconsiderate parking between De Montfort Road and Wellington Road – four vans and two Chelsea tractors – but they did not prevent me walking to my destination.

I entirely dispute claims of dangerous parking in this road. I certainly saw no evidence to support this claim.

Disability campaigner Chris Kift is correct in saying that people who park on the pavement cause a danger to those with disabilities or pushchairs, but I don’t think he is referring to the Elm Grove situation. I think he is making a wider point that, in general, parking on the pavement can be dangerous.

My contention is that, apart from making money from fines, I think the council has its eye on the bigger prize: get rid of cars from the Tarmaced area and convert it into a cycle lane. What else would you do with such a wide area?

Mr C Tidey, Alfriston Close, Whitehawk

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