In January the Government signalled that it was set to legislate to enable transport authorities to restrict and enforce pavement parking.
Hertfordshire Cllr Alistair Willoughby (pictued) put the spotlight on pavement parking at a meeting of the full council.He submitted a motion, which was not debated at the meeting, that acknowledged the obstructions caused by pavement parking, as well as the “substantial and costly” damage caused to grass verges, reports The Comet.
But he also acknowledged that in many Hertfordshire communities, particularly with older or narrow streets, pavement parking had become essential for residents, because of limited off-street or on-street capacity.
In the motion, he said that the need for “accessibility and safety” should be balanced with “the practical needs of residents”.
The county council, he said, should now work closely with district and borough councils to ensure a coordinated response.
The motion said that removing pavement parking without mitigation could result in neighbour disputes and reduced access for emergency vehicles.
Alternatives could include the use of county council-owned land for additional resident parking or the identification of streets where formalised pavement parking could remain.
It also suggests that streets could be redesigned to accommodate safe “on-carriageway” parking.
And it calls for county council officers to bring back a report on the likely impact of the new pavement parking enforcement powers and options for mitigating parking displacement.
The motion was not debated at the meeting of the full council. But it will be considered by a future meeting of the council’s environment, growth and transport cabinet panel.
Commenting on the motion, which was seconded by the leader of the Labour group, Cllr Nigel Bell, Cllr Willoughby told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the issue was “really important” and had an impact on people’s lives.
“Obviously, there are lots of areas where pavement parking is creating real issues for residents, for whom walking in the road would be quite dangerous – particularly with prams,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
“And it’s obviously something that needs to be addressed in certain areas. We also have to acknowledge there are streets – because most places we represent have organically grown – where there is no off-street parking.
“And people have to park on the pavements because the roads weren’t wide enough when they were built in the 60s, 70s or 80s. Clearly, there is going to be an issue if we just do a ‘one size fits all’ enforcement programme.”
(Picture: Hertfordshire County Council)
