A couple living in East Williamston, who have been asked not to park their vehicles on land owned by the community council, claimed this week that they would continue to do so, despite the request not to. The matter was referred to in a report of the May meeting of East Williamston Community Council published in the Observer last month. It was stated: 'Councillors had received complaints regarding the parking of vehicles on the village green which belongs to the East Williamston Community Council. 'The clerk advised that parking had since ceased and the matter had now reached a successful conclusion.' However, Vanda Hurley and her husband Michael, who live at Green Cottage, claim that the situation has not been resolved. "As far as we're concerned there has been no conclusion to the matter and we'll continue to park our vehicles on the land until there is something to signify not to do so," said Mrs. Hurley. "There is no signage warning 'no parking', so why are we the only people who appear to be getting victimised over the issue." Mrs. Hurley is also angry that the only correspondence they received on the matter was directed to her husband's employers, Jewson, and not to themselves. "Michael sometimes parks one of the lorries he uses for work outside our house, but rather then write to us directly or 'phone us on the matter, we were annoyed that they chose to write to them directly," she stated. However, chairman of East Williamston Community Council, Mr. Charles Hopkinson, did not agree with the couple's suggestion that they were being victimised. "I'm not sure why they think they have been victimised, as all we've done as a community council is try to address the issue," he said. "All I know is that this has caused a lot of bad feeling in the community, so much so that the clerk to the council has handed in his resignation as a result of the issue." The land in question at the village green, which is owned by the community council, has been transformed, with the help of charity organisation SPARC, into an area which Mr. Hopkinson believes has put East Williamston on the map. "A lot of work has been put into improving the site which before was essentially just dumping ground, so the outstanding effort of both the community council and SPARC must be commended, as the land has now been transformed into a lovely area with planted trees, seating and also a couple of parking spaces for public use," he explained. After receiving a number of complaints from residents regarding Mr. and Mrs. Hurley constantly parking their vehicles in the area, the council felt it was time to address the matter. "It was when we received a complaint about a commercial van being parked in the area overnight that we felt the matter was getting out of hand and wrote to Mr. Hurley's employers," continued Mr. Hopkinson. "Other residents were especially unhappy, as it was clear that Mr. and Mrs. Hurley already had adequate space on their own drive to park any of their vehicles. "The irony of the whole situation is that it was Mr. and Mrs. Hurley who originally took offence to people parking their vehicles in the area and made a complaint, but as far as the community council is concerned, the matter has been dealt with appropriately and is now closed," he added.
