Just my 2p, but I find it hard to believe that the benefit to a shop of the odd person who drives in is greater than the cost of that person's car parked on the pavement deterring others from going there, blocking traffic etc.

The pools have no car parking by design, and they seem to have been able to function properly, and recent studies for Wandsworth/Balham (I don't have the links to hand) have shown that most people who shop locally there use public transport or walk. (more and more are using cycling as an alternative, but it is still a minority).

Do that many people still own cars? The car park by the station is mostly empty for a great deal of the time. I guess my question is, are the people who park on Dartmouth Road and block the traffic etc just lazy?