Petrol pains

Despite the fact Lichfield's roads seem to be back to normal this morning, anyone looking to fill up for a potentially long commute was in for disappointment at the Tesco filling station.

Cones prevented drivers from getting onto the forecourt at the start of the day. Not sure if it was weather related, but by putting the blockade across the forecourt entrance rather than the site entrance caused more problems than you'd expect.

Given that there's only the petrol station and pharmacy on site now (the latter not being open at 7am this morning), you'd have thought they'd have put a statement of their closure on the actual junction.

Instead, drivers were forced to go round the filling station and brave the ice and a piece of road that hadn't been used and was therefore iced over.

Every little (bit of information) helps...

Bye, bye Tesco

Heading through Lichfield at the weekend, I noticed the bulldozers are making swift work of the Tesco store.

What you can't see though is what the future holds for the site.

Yes, there'll be a lovely new superstore, but the need for improvements around the area is huge.

Even on a quiet day without the store and only Aldi and the Tesco petrol station remaining, traffic was snarled up. Add to that the volume of interest there will be in the new superstore and you may well need to book a week off work to drive into Lichfield from Trent Valley come Autumn.

The signs near Tesco indicate junction improvements are taking place, but with a churchyard on one side and Aldi on the other, it's hard to see where any realistic and useful changes can be made.

There's no doubting that the city will welcome a large new superstore, but if you can't get into it because of traffic then what will the real benefits be?

Parent and toddler parking space means just that

A handful of posts in and already I'm developing a thing about parking.

This time it's parent and toddler spaces. What exactly is the point of such spaces if they're not enforced?

A visit to any of Lichfield's main supermarkets - Morrisons, Co-op and, before the closure, Tesco - inevitably means a scramble for these 'premium' spaces.

There's a myth amongst drivers that they're unnecessary. After all, why do parents need extra wide spaces? Well, if you've ever tried squeezing a car seat complete with baby out of a half-foot gap then you'll understand why.

But why do those in Lichfield find the need to ignore the big signs indicating that these spaces are there for just that reason? They wouldn't park in a disabled bay, so why park in a family space?

It's become something of a mini-campaign of mine. If ever I see a family-less driver in one of the spaces I tend to make a point of asking them whether they should be driving with eyesight so bad that they can't see the sign.

If you've been berated by such a person, then there's a very good chance it was me.

But it shouldn't be down to the 'little guy' to enforce parking. Tesco were one of the worst culprits. Quite happy to scour the car park looking for people who have stayed longer than the permitted three hours, but not prepared to take action against those who park in bays they are not entitled to. So their signage claims that the three-hour limit was to preserve spaces for customers was clearly more to do with trying to slap a ticket/clamp on a car and raise revenue. After all, if it was about customers then they'd at least try to keep spaces free for families using their store.

But the other stores who don't patrol have a duty to do so. At a time when they're asking us to pay more and more for our weekly shop (with families spending more than most), is it too much to ask for the stores to provide adequate and enforced parking facilities?

Pay and dismay

As if it wasn't bad enough that Lichfield's parking charges have become nothing short of farcical, the closure of Tesco has added to the woe.

The loss of the hundreds of spaces which, rightly or wrongly, were used by many to pop into the city centre has made an already bad situation far, far worse.

The chain of decisions surrounding car parking leaves a lot to be desired. At a time when Lichfield is joining many other commercial centres in losing key shopfronts such as Woolworths, that the decision-makers do their utmost to drive shoppers away from their key areas to out-of-town sites where parking is free.

Firstly, the decision was taken to hike parking prices and install machines which I, and many others I've spoken to, have put money into only to see no ticket delivered. There's even one car park (the lower level of the one opposite Poundland) which charges more on a Saturday than it does during the week! How is this meant to attract greater footfall into area in desperate need of an increased audience? No, I don't know either.

So with Tesco closing until the Autumn meaning less available spaces and those that are left coming at a premium, is it any wonder why casual shoppers are thinking that Lichfield just isn't worth it?