Car parking at or near the station

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From out of our area, I've seen reports of commuters parking in the streets near stations in front of houses - perfectly legally, but making it hard for residents to park their own cars.  And indeed I've tried to park at a (South West Trains) station and found it impossible, to the extent that I drove 100 miles to my appointment when it was clear I wouldn't make my train.

What do members think is acceptable in terms of parking for using a train?

To give you an example, I'll park in a car park - either a station one or a public one nearby.  I'll park roadside in designated spaces (if going out for the evening from Chippenham, for example), and I'll park on an open road section - for example on Station Approach at Melksham if the car parking spaces are all occupied.  I will try to avoid parking in front of a business (especially if I think that my parking may inconvenience the business) and I really wouldn't want to park in a residential street - witnesses by the fact I didn't even try when the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) car park was full.

To my recollection, we've not had much of a discussion on this subject in the past .. and I'm very much aware that it may raise strong views;  the moderator team has been talking this through, and one has suggested a poll as a good way of raising the issue without it getting immediately heated.