Forum: Most roads outside private homes are public spaces
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I refer to the letter, “No need to demonise residents in private housing estates over parking” (April 1). Except for some roads that are private, most roads in housing estates are built and maintained with public funds, and nobody has exclusive rights to parking there.
When one buys a house, he should consider if space is provided for parking within the premises.
Good neighbourliness among fellow residents notwithstanding, one cannot expect to reserve public road space for the exclusive use of any household. There is also no implicit rule or understanding that visitors should abide by the wishes of residents and stay away from what is obviously a public space.
There are also residents who do the inconsiderate thing by driving off in the morning, but reserve the space in front of their house with bins and chairs. This leaves the space vacant till they return at night to occupy it, frustrating other potential parkers for the whole day.
In my estate, residents had a choice of getting the authorities to either draw a white line down the middle of the road to deter illegal parking, or allowing everyone to park, first-come, first-served. Both options are present now within the same estate.
An alternative is to have paid season parking outside one’s house.
Yik Keng Yeong (Dr)
