I put the following question to Cabinet about parking on pavements.
Parking on pavements and grass verges in Twerton is becoming a nightmare for pedestrians. This affects the disabled and partiality sighted residents the most and can have devastating effects on their lives. Will the cabinet ensure that its officers work with Curo the Police and the community of Twerton in order to resolve this ever growing problem? Will the cabinet look at what other powers they are able to bring down from government to tackle this problem? Will the cabinet investigate what financial resources may be needed in order to resolve some of the problems uncovered?
The answer that I received although not very good is a start gives some hope?
Unlike Greater London, there is currently no national legislation banning the parking of all vehicles on the pavement, due to the wide range of circumstances and locations where pavement parking occurs. For example in some narrow residential roads with a lack of off-street parking provision, drivers have little option but to park on the pavement to avoid causing traffic congestion.
Parking Services can enforce against vehicles where other restrictions such as Double Yellow Lines are in place upon the highway under the Traffic Management Act 2004. Where there are no restrictions we do not have powers to enforce via the issue Penalty Charge Notices. Furthermore, the Police have powers under section 137 of the Highways Act 1980, which makes it an offence “to wilfully obstruct the free passage of the highway”. However, this is difficult to prove and resource intensive so rarely gets used.
We do have the power under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 to make Traffic Regulation Orders, allowing for specific parking regulations to be implemented in specific areas, according to the demands of local circumstances. We can for example introduce a Traffic Regulation Order in a single road banning the parking of vehicles on any part of the pavement. However, the order would need to be signed appropriately and the restriction would apply to all vehicles which can be contentious and lead to many objections. Currently no budget has been allocated to investigating this issue specifically in Twerton but if specific areas of concern are raised they can be added to the forward plan of work for when budget is available. In the meantime, Parking Services will liaise with Curo and the Police Neighbourhood Teams to raise awareness of the issues being caused by pavement parking and request that residents show consideration for others by not parking on the pavement.
On the 4 December 2015 the government committed to undertake a policy review and to convene a round table next year to examine the implications of any legislative change in response to a private members bill which was subsequently withdrawn. Transport minister Robert Goodwill MP stated that improving access for all pedestrians remained a priority for the government. As an Authority we will be feeding into any consultation raising the issues faced within Bath and North East Somerset for both pedestrians and motorists alike .
