fishing

No, I'm not ranting and tanting about the fast-food development........just a few ideas which I would appreciate your feedback on!

Due to the growing numbers of completed units on Thalassa, I have noticed that at weekends and holiday periods there are an alarming number of vehicles driving onto the development and "parking-up" for any number of hours. Whilst I recognise that some people may wish for family members and friends to visit them whilst they are in residence, we cannot accommodate their vehicles due to the allocated parking space system. This will become increasingly frustrating during "high residency periods".

One suggestion would be for owners to install a  lockable "drive-post" on their allocated parking bay. During non-occupation of your apartment, the post would remain fixed upright, thus rendering the bay unusuable by anyone other than a key-owner. If all owners were to adopt this system, any vehicles entering the development without access to a parking bay would find themselves having to park in unauthorised areas, and as such, if the development purchased a "wheel-clamp" they would find themselves having to pay a substantial amount of money in order that the clamp be removed!

For those people who may have visitors driving any distance to spend time with them, there are numerous parking spaces around the outside of the development which could be utilised. Inside the development this system could employ "drop-off" zones for goods deliveries situated in designated areas with a time limit on them, so that abuse of the zone can be minimalised. If an owner were to forget to lock the drive-post in an upright position and a vehicle were to use the parking-bay without authorisation, then the guilty vehicle could then be clamped. I do realise that there would have to be notices placed around the development warning people of the clamping potential, but unfortunately, this could be a necessary evil if people continue to abuse our facilities.

People who choose to rent-out their properties would have to ensure that their clients have access to a key, and for multiple occupancies where more than one car is involved, clients would have to take it in turns to park either in or out of the development.

If enough owners give a positive feed-back on this issue, I will start enquiries regarding the cost, so any feedback would be appreciated!

In the meantime,

Regards to you all,

Lorraine Braid.

 

Lorraine

I totally agree that allocated parking spaces need to be used & as you say there are plenty of parking spaces around the outside of the development if needed.

I would fully support the introduction of the lockable posts & the wheel clamp for those that don't observe the rules.

Up to now, we have parked in any available space (nearer to our apartment than our allocated space) because there have been so few cars on site but we recognise that this will not be possible at peak times.

Regards

Noreen

Gets my vote!

Lorraine,

          Please follow up on our behalf ,and you have our support ,the sooner the better.

                                                                                                                                             Ken

                                                                                                    

Yes, great idea and hopefully we can display something in the windscreens too.  No one wants to challenge a stranger as to their validity to be on Thalassa .. and potentially get left with egg on their face if they turn out to be a genuine visitor,  but this goes a long way towards being seen to proactively address the issue and bad news travels as fast as good so those that do abuse it will no doubt spread the word that its not so easy to freeload!

How does the clamp work?  Does an independant contractor have to fit and unlock it or is it left to us on the urb to manage this?

 

Hi,

I agree that a lockable post in front of your car  parking space is ok,  but i would not want to see wheel clamping in the complex, when i come over to my apartment i want to relax and get away from all that is crap in england like the weather and bloody wheel clamping !  if you have a lockable post i would think that that is enough, is the situation that bad that we need to start clamping people ?  I am all for respecting rules etc...  but  the last thing i would want is some jumped up clamper putting a  wheel clamp on my car whilst i was unloading shopping whilst my car is not in my correct space for five minutes,   at least lets see how this summer  goes first before making any decisions.

 

Andy

 

Hi Andy,

I agree that "wheel clamping" may seem a tad extreme, but I did propose an "unloading zone"  to be clearly  marked at several points throughout the development in order that goods/cases/shopping can be safely handled without the need to be clamped. However, in order that the zone is not abused, signs should be clearly displayed stating a twenty-minute waiting period (this is merely a suggested time).

Whilst I do not advocate a full-time traffic warden or a professional wheel clamper,( both the scourge of society in general I hasten to add..........) the clamp would be kept in the gate-keepers office and only used at such time as a vehicle is causing an obstruction. I recognise that most people will want to park within their own parking bays and, under normal circumstances, there should be no problems, but there are always certain individuals who will choose to ignore or flout the parking rules and during peak periods, this will create numerous problems.

I agree that we should monitor the situation throughout the summer months in order to ascertain if there could be future problems, but there is also a need to curtail certain practices before they get out of hand. ie., should there be a limit to the amount of "visitors" one is permitted to bring onto Thalassa, afterall, if these "visitors" are also being allowed to use our facilities on a regular basis, should they not be charged for the privilege?

OOOOOOH!

Your comments would be appreciated.

Regards,

Lorraine Braid.

I have to agree with Andy on this, I think clamping is getting a little over the top.  Thallassa is supposed to be a place of relaxation.  Clamping cars is starting to take things a bit too far.  Surely a couple of signs at the entrance gates, one in Spanish and one in English asking people to only park in their designated space is more than enough.  Inform them of the public spaces and if they are full advise them to park outside.

Like Andy said, why not wait and see what happens this summer, there may not be any problems at all.

If I find someone in my space when I next come out I will simply block them in, if they want to get out they will have to come and find me.  They wont be so quick to park in my space again.

There would have to be some system to identify cars to apartments AND allocated parking spaces otherwise if someone were to park in your allocated space it would be a very difficult job to track down the guilty culprit!

Rather like finding a needle in a haystack!

As I first said, these are items for discussion and feedback, we have to explore the positive and negative sides of making the development a pleasant place to enjoy any time we have to spend here.

Keep the suggestions coming,

Regards,

Lorraine Braid.

Resort is a lot smaller than Thalassa, but a bit more established. Every time we have been to our apartent, the number of cars can be counted on less than 2 hands, there are about 10 extra spaces more than properties too. Most people on our complex (and possibly yours) only use the property as a holiday home. I have noticed one blue disabled bay and one that has a post, but generally, everyone parks where they want to which is normally closer than their allocated space. Full time residents generally fix a number plate to their space to let others know they are there all the time.

I imagine the issue will be June/ July/ August when the place should be "heaving", but does it necessarily have to be an issue? I would have thought that the benefit of being able to possibly park a bit closer to your property throughout most of the year would be far better than imposing a mandatory "you must only park in your own space" and having to hump your luggage an extra 500 metres at Christmas  .

Mark

 

Have to say i agree with Mark - we stayed on resort last year in August and there were lots of cars and you parked where you like and there was never a problem.

Unfortunately the logic of our allocation of spaces is ridiculous and we tried to change this with Keymare when we signed up initially.  If we are going to go along the lines of claiming your own space maybe amongst ourselves and those interested we could do some mutial swapping to see if that may make some of us closer to our own properties.

This message was last edited by suzi-anne on 4/25/2008.

Sorry but I dis-agree .I purchsed an allocated parking place for my convenience . Parking in unauthorised areas would be chaotic.I am happy with my designated place and I will ensure that it is not used by others,it is near my apartment and for my sole use.If necessary I will fit a lockeable appliance to prevent others using ,But I await a decision by the Presidenta in respect to multi purchase and type for uniformity

I agree that a post will be a good idea.

The proof of the pudding will be when all properties are sold and usage during the high season

G

Lorraine,

As mentioned previously, the need will become apparent following the summer months, however if it is thought necessary then I am all in favour of installing a post.

Since completing last September we have been frequent visitors and like Noreen have taken advantage of the emptiness of bays in order to park closer to our apartment. As our bay is just inside the entrance it is often taken by workmen but as yet I have never seen more than a dozen other veichles parked at any one time therefore it has not been a problem as yet.

Just a thought, who would pay to have the post repositioned should it be knocked down by a careless driver ?

Best wishes

Denis  

As I said in a previous message, this is a topic for discussion and debate.

Regarding who should pay for any damages incurred to posts by negligent drivers, hopefully, the driver in question would be honest and own up to the misdemeanour and then pay for the replacement or repair. If there were witnesses I would encourage them to note the registration number of the vehicle and, if the proposed "visitor pass" was displayed in the car windscreen note this also. Armed with this information we may be able to "name and shame".

I would hope that this is not a frequent occurrence, but , yet again, we would need to discuss the logistics of the situation, and the actions which we could take against the perpetrators of the crime (ooh, I'm sounding all official and pompous now........sorry!)

I appreciate your support,

Regards,

Lorraine Braid.

Good discussion this...................

Don't worry, if Lorraine gets too pompous, I shall ask Ken to slap the back of her legs!

G

ps  don't get exited Lorraine!

As members of the community (which includes a "paid for" allocated parking space), we would eagerly pay for a lockable post to ensure our space is for our use only - it also means that if we arrive in the middle of the night we won't have to park in someone else's spot due to ours being used by an unauthorised "visitor".

Or we could get the apartment no. painted on the space or as a notice attached to the structure directly in front of you when you park the car -  although I appreciate this won't stop abuse of the spaces, but at least the "spacejacker" cannot claim they did not realise they were in the wrong one ... the present numbering system is too easy to ignore, being a discreet little number up on the roof.

At the end of the day, to put things in perspective, this really only becomes a problem when its really busy .. so for 2, possibly 3, months of the year and, as someone previously said, you can always block them in.  Mind you, I see every movie star is hiring a huge man mountain bodyguard ... maybe we could persuade one to don some loud shorts and flip flops and patrol the development in exchange for a free 2 month holiday!

 

Problem is if you block them in you have potentialy a confrontational situation which could escalate .

 

I agree with Ken - My allocated parking bay is opposite the apartment stairway therefore it is very convenient, I have not up to now encountered any issues with other people using my bay during my stay at Thalassa.  However, if it was to prove a problem I would not hesitate to install a parking fence, available in Mojacar for about 50€.