Booing,
re your comment:-
"If you parked outside my house all day every day you might come back to see one or more of your tyres let down".
I sincerely hope you don't really mean that - this action is a criminal offence. Public roads are just that; you do not "own" the space outside your house on a public road.
ferdalee,
Some residents do get fed up with seeing the same car parked outside their house every day regardless. But for people to actually damage the vehicle in any way is not acceptable, let alone legal.
I'll tell you what its like in this part of Essex east commuterville.
The particular station that I am thinking of in has many commuters coming into it - its also popular because its has two fast lines going into London and the service therefore is generally good.
Commuter car parking is confined there to two car parks; both of which have had more than their fair share of break ins over the years due to both poor overall security (there is none) and crap cctv cameras.
The annual cost of parking in one of these car parks (and one is more desireable than the other due to its closer proximity to the station, it also has less speed humps) is close on £1000 per annum.
They also have a good wheeze which is called Premium Parking so you can have your very own numbered space - cost of which is nearly £1200 a year. That was brought in to both this station and others because other commuters who arrived "later" were not able to get parked in the closer distance car park but had instead to use the one further away (the poor lambs). The car park co saw a goldmine and leapt on it.
These charges are also increased every year. Until recently as well the surface of both car parks was full of holes and poorly maintained. The white lines designating each space had faded away into nothing.
You can park in these car parks for the day; cost £5 before 10am, £3.50 afterwards. There is no longer free parking in these car parks (years ago there was free parking in the station car parks on bank holidays and weekends). Bus service overall is not good and is expensive to boot, no wonder people drive.
If I lived near a station I would rent out my garage or concrete hardstanding for a reasonable sum (and undercut the annual cost of the station car park) and park my car on the street.
Think the residents of such zones need to think carefully because having such schemes implimented (I do understand their frustrations why these are put into force) because they can well replace one problem with yet another. You need to be careful what you wish for. There is no one solution that will make everyone happy.
Residents have car parking permits which has to be paid for yearly and per car but the scheme has been further extended over the years to cover the distance of a mile from the high street in each direction. The town has become in effect a no parking zone. It has dramatically decreased high street trade as there is only two small council run car parks (cost per hour to park there 80p). Who will pay that when you can go to Tescos and shop for free?. People vote with their feet. Even my local town centre (not exactly known for its forward thinking) offers free parking in its town centre on the weekends. Result - a town full of shoppers spending money, money which the businesses badly need to keep going.
There is no forward planning either; once Crossrail starts to be constructed one of the station car parks will be commandered permanently!. No replacement car park is planned (there is no land available besides which they can't build on greenbelt).