High-profile killings put women’s parking and safety front and center
Resident parking schemes in Swindon often require women to park a significant distance from their homes and walk through dark streets.
And since the high-profile murders of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa have come to light, says Eastcott Labor councilor Marina Strinkovsky.
Count Strinkovsky has presented a motion to Swindon City Council, which will be debated next week, asking the council to use residents’ local knowledge to address parking shortages in areas where residents’ schemes are used.
His motion reads: “Residents in permit areas are experiencing parking shortages that often prevent them from parking within a reasonable distance of their homes. Women often have to walk some distance from their car to their home and have raised legitimate safety concerns about their inability to find parking on their street, compounded by recent high-profile attacks on women walking alone after dark.
“Community members are an untapped resource when it comes to finding and developing solutions to highly local issues like parking and security.”
Count Strinkovsky told the LDR: “After the cases of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa. It became a problem with a capital I, not a minor inconvenience, and women found they could make their voices heard.
“I don’t own a car, and like a lot of people I thought it wasn’t such a big deal – if you live in a Victorian or Edwardian terrace, the streets aren’t made for car ownership. as a duo, and there’s not much you can do about it.
“But he was lifted with me several times.”
The newly elected councilor said local knowledge is key to finding a solution.
She said: “People know their streets and their neighborhood. In my street, I think there is room for three more places. Other people on other streets will have similar knowledge.
“It will take a granular solution – shorten the double yellow lines in one street, do something else in another, specific solutions for specific streets and areas and that’s where knowing the people who live there will be key.”
“It will require the council to really engage with residents and work on all portfolios equally. It’s not just about highways and parking, and it’s not just about security and policing. People don’t live their lives the way the council is organized.
The full council meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 29
