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ALL IN Aday’s
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Civil Enforcement Officer Babajide Oshodi is helping to keep the traffic flowing in the borough. Babajide Oshodi is there to get things moving in one of the busiest areas of Brent for traffic. Baba, as he is know to his colleagues, leads eight civil enforcement officers, or traffic wardens as they are often known, in an area of Harlesden. “My job is to keep the traffic free-flowing for everyone: buses, commuters, drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and businesses,” he explains. “That means we are out and about, patrolling. It is our job to stop illegal parking because it blocks up traffic, delaying other people’s journeys.” He says many drivers are not aware the effects which illegal parking can have on an area. “There is a fire station on Pound Lane and an ambulance station in Harlesden Road,” he says. “If a car blocks either one of those roads it will add seconds to the journey of an ambulance or fire crew trying to get through.Those seconds could make a difference to rescuing somebody from danger, or saving a person’s life.” Or the problems it causes other travellers. “I once had to deal with a motorist who had double-parked and gone into a shop. A bus had to stop behind her and by the time I got there the traffic had backed up 200 metres.That one car blocking a road held up a bus with 80 people.They all had to sit and wait because of one person’s actions.”
“It is our job to stop illegal parking because it blocks up traffic, delaying other people’s journeys.”
For more information visit
www.brent.gov.uk/ streetcare2.nsf
Inevitably, penalty charge notices are issued. Common illegal parking includes double-parking, parking on single yellow lines out of authorised hours or double yellow lines when not delivering goods, parking in disabled bays without the authorised Blue Badge, or in controlled parking zones without a resident’s permit. “No targets are set for issuing penalty notices,” he explains. “They are issued to deal with illegal parking. The facts are that the numbers of tickets we issue has been going down year on year, because more people are complying with the rules. We are considerate where we can be. For example, when we introduce a new parking scheme for two weeks after it has come in we just issue a warning notice. To improve our service we now take digital photos, so there is clear evidence if a vehicle was parked illegally. Many people think that time restrictions are the same everywhere for parking on a single yellow line, but they are not. People must check that particular area.Yes, people do get angry with us. But we are trained to deal with those situations calmly.”
MARCH 2010
THE BRENT MAGAZINE
11