Agenda item

Councillor Lynne Allen attended the meeting and spoke as a Ward Councillor. 

Concerns and suggestions raised at the meeting included the following:

• Residents advised that they had been parking on the footway since at least 1991 and had recently started receiving parking tickets for doing this;
• When the Council was contacted, residents were advised that they had no official permission to park on the footway;
• Concern was expressed that it was not safe for vehicles to park on the road as it was narrow and would hinder emergency vehicles from travelling along the road;
• Residents preferred not to have white lines to designate footway parking bays as this would save the Council time and money;
• Residents felt that the Council’s requirement for no parking within 15m of a junction would significantly reduce the number of vehicles able to park in the road as there were a large number of junctions and roundabouts.  Drivers were currently parking on the footway within 10m metres of the junctions and there had not been any accidents;
• The pavement was up to approximately 3m wide which would enable footway parking and still leave at least 1.5m for pedestrians; and
• Following a fatal accident some years ago, a design was draw up to improve road safety in the area.  However, this scheme did not identify parking and residents were told by a Council officer at the time that they could continue to park on the footway.  This had not been put in writing.

Councillor Keith Burrows listened to the concerns of the petitioners and responded to the points raised.  It was noted that the Department of Transport had recently implemented changes as specified within the Highways Act to offer councils more flexibility – officers would investigate whether or not these changes affected the marking of footway parking bays. 

Although the Highway Code specified no parking within 10m of a junction, the Council policy was for no parking within 15m of a junction.  Although it was agreed that the footway parking enforcement would be suspended in Central Avenue, residents were asked to park a sensible distance from the junctions. 

The Cabinet Member stated that it was important for residents to respond to the consultation that would be undertaken (potentially in the next two months) to ensure that residents’ views were considered.  Officers would then be able to come up with a sensible and practical solution to address the concerns of the residents. 

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Member:

1. noted the petition request; and
2. approved the investigation of a Footway Parking Exemption Scheme for consultation with residents of Central Avenue and that enforcement be suspended in the interim providing parking takes place in accordance with the Council’s criteria.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

It would appear it has been common practice to park on the footways of Central Avenue due to the narrow width of carriageway and this is supported by the large petition from residents of Central Avenue.  The footways of Central Avenue are sufficiently wide to allow cars to park on them.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED

None as petitioners have made a specific request for parking on the footway.