Park life I wonder if we are still in Alices Wonderland, having gone down the proverbial rabbit hole. Will this new Code of Practice live up to all its promises and a myriad unintended and, dare I say it, unlikeable consequences? In 2024, to triumphant acclaim, ministers will announce that: All is well, problem solved. Really? I wonder if we are still in Alices Wonderland, having gone down the proverbial rabbit hole who knows what well find... Will this new Code of Practice live up to all its promises and expectations or will there be a myriad unintended and, dare I say it, unlikeable consequences? Living in a fantasy Alice next enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. There she finds that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed, including logic. Will capping parking charges really save motorists millions, or will millions more parking tickets be issued as non-compliance rockets? Will banishing debt-recovery fees really result in fairer unpaid debt collection, or will millions of motorists now face County Court Judgments a rarity today, but increasingly a reality tomorrow? Will denying access to DVLA data really prevent so-called rogue operators, or will it create more of them, by encouraging people to operate outside the Code? Will the measures be a major boost to millions of motorists in England, Scotland and Wales, helping to draw people back to their local high streets by eliminating the fear of being unfairly caught out. Or will those motorists be caught out by having nowhere to park as selfish motorists ignore the rules and park all day in shoppers and residents car parks? At the end of 2021, I wrote: What we really want is Statutory Guidance and a Code of Practice that treats everyone fairly and encourages all to comply, but with effective sanctions for those that choose not to. Now that would be a present worth waiting for. At the end of Alice Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll wrote: Life, what is it but a dream? Dream on! Kelvin Reynolds Director of corporate and public affairs kelvin.r@britishparking.co.uk 48 britishparking.co.uk PN March 2022 pp46-48 Parklife Kelvin.indd 48 22/02/2022 15:13