SSE parking blamed for near miss in Thatcham

Father and daughter driving along Falmouth Way have close shave with bus because of parked cars

A Father and his daughter narrowly avoided being hit by a bus, and irresponsible parking by SSE employees is being blamed.

Mark Robinson said that a bus had nearly crashed into his car as he drove his daughter to preschool last Tuesday morning.

He said that cars were parked up Falmouth Way and he couldn’t see traffic coming.

“I was creeping, creeping, creeping and then a bus nearly took the front off,” he said.

He added that company vehicles were also parking in Skillman Drive and BoscawenWay, making it dangerous to drive in the area.

Residents have repeatedly raised concerns about the company parking in the area.

They have criticised SSE, which has an arrangement to use Thatcham Football Club for overflow car parking, for not running a shuttlebus between the ground and its Pipers Way office.

West Berkshire Council recently consulted on placing single yellow lines in Falmouth Way to prevent daytime parking, as SSE vehicles are causing problems for buses.

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said that SSE vehicles were also parking irresponsibly in Agricola Way. “I’ve lived here for 30 years and never seen anything like it,” she said.

“They park on both sides of the path and it’s hard to drive out and see if anything is coming.”

She said she had contacted West Berkshire Council which had instructed her to call the police if there was an obstruction.

“Nobody seems to be interested until there’s an accident,” she said.

“How the buses manage to get down I don’t know.”

The resident added that she was concerned that the problem would worsen when SSE closed its office in Basingstoke.

SSE said in a statement: “SSE is aware of the parking issues at its offices in Thatcham and is working on a range of options to minimise the need for more vehicles coming to Thatcham from other SSE locations.

“When the Basingstoke office closes in 2017 staff from there will relocate to other SSE properties, including Reading and Thatcham, while some staff currently based at Thatcham will move to Reading.”