As reported by local news website dewezet.de, the council for the city of Klein Berkel, which is located about 53km south-west of Hanover, has decided to fence off a space used by HGV drivers for their mandatory breaks. A video of the fence was uploaded to YouTube and can be seen embedded in this article.
The area where the fence has been erected is on Ottostraße, which runs parallel to the town’s Lidl supermarket. The satellite image of the area from Google Maps shows lorries parked there.
According to the local press, the council had already announced a few weeks ago that it would “ensure no more trucks would be allowed to park there in the future”. The council claims it erected the fence after repeatedly receiving complaints from local residents.
Locals have accused the lorry drivers who park there of littering the area and using the street as toilet. There were also complaints about the noise of the lorries that had engines or fridges running.
The authorities in Germany have acknowledged that the country has a lack of parking spaces for trucks, and the government is set to spend €700 million on motorway rest areas and HGV parking facilities.
Although one could argue the actions of some of the drivers who park on Ottostraße cannot be condoned, reactions like this from city councils will only exacerbate the country’s lorry parking capacity problem.
Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash (illustrative image)