Borough Life Autum 2006: Just the ticket
Don't Look Back In Anger! Kath Parr and Neil Howarth through the rear-view mirror.
They are the much-maligned guardians of our town centre streets. Parking attendants have become the butt of many a joke. And as always, much of the vitriol aimed at them is unwarranted. In Wigan, the council-controlled parking attendant service is a valuable one, which, while we may not want to admit it, most of us would miss if it wasn’t there. Borough Life went on patrol with the parking attendants and discovered that the work they do is…
You want to get a proper job! It’s a cry that parking services supervisor Kath Parr has heard so many times she’s lost count. More often than not, this particularly abrupt piece of career advice is hurled from the window of a passing car or van.
And it would be funny if not for the fact that Kath works 11 hour shifts (including weekends), is responsible for up to 18 people and pounds the streets of Wigan town centre in all weathers in a bid to make it a safer place.
Kath, 42, has been doing the job for four years. Contrary to popular opinion, she and her colleagues are well received by most of the people they come into contact with.
“Many motorists and pedestrians appreciate the job we do and are glad that we are here,” says Kath.
They’re not all like that of course. Kath recalls one particularly irate, burly male driver informing her he was willing to ‘do five years’ for hitting her after she had the temerity to put a ticket on his illegally parked car.
“We are taught how to calm situations down,” says Kath. “And all we can really do is try to explain to people why they have received a ticket. Thankfully, the vast majority accept this.”
Today Kath is going out and about on the Wigan town centre beat with colleague Neil Howarth. Neil, 37, has been on patrol for the past 13 months.
“I worked in retail before getting the parking attendant’s job,” he says.
“I was aware of all the stick parking attendants come in for, but I had a friend who was already doing the job so I knew what it was all about. People do sometimes get annoyed but you quickly realise it’s the uniform or the hat they are having a go at, not you as a person.”
Neil and Kath head off into the town centre and it’s not very long before they’re in business. A car is parked outside a town centre pub on an area clearly marked ‘loading bay’.
It’s a busy location and if a delivery lorry turned up now it would have nowhere to unload, unless it parked in an illegal and potentially dangerous way.
“We check to make sure motorists aren’t just loading or unloading, but clearly in a situation like this there are no excuses,” says Neil.
Following this the pair take photographs of the offending vehicle from every angle (six in total), just to avoid any arguments later on.
As we move off again Kath and Neil are greeted with ‘hellos’ from shopkeepers on their route. It’s clear they are part of the town centre community.
So perhaps it’s time to dispel some popular myths about our two parking attendant friends:
You’ve got quotas to fill.
“Not true,” says Kath. “We’re not on commission or anything like that. We’re only here to target people who park illegally.”
You lie in wait for poor unsuspecting motorists behind lamposts and trees. ‘That’s a good one,” laughs Neil. “But again it’s simply not true. We haven’t got the time to do that.
“We complete our rounds and if we find an illegally parked car on the way then we’ll ticket it, that’s our job. But lying in wait for people, no way.”
You’re driving people away from our town centres.
“I think we’re actually making it easier for people,” says Neil. “If you’ve ever been into the town centre on one of the busiest days, say over Christmas or at weekends, you’ll know it’s bedlam.
“If we were not here the town centres would be chaos for motorists, pedestrians and shopkeepers alike.”
You are in fact aliens from another dimension!
“Ok, that one’s true,” jokes Kath.