Thank you for contacting my office. I very much appreciate you getting in touch about pavement parking.
I appreciate that vehicles parked on pavements can be dangerous for all pedestrians, as it can force them onto the carriageway and into the flow of traffic. In particular, I understand that pavement parking can cause real problems for people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments, as well as those with pushchairs.
While
there is a historic ban on pavement parking throughout London, elsewhere
any local authority that has taken up civil enforcement powers may introduce a
ban on pavement parking where it sees fit through the use of Traffic Regulation
Orders. As part of making this easier to implement, in 2011 Ministers gave all
councils authorisation to use a sign indicating where a pavement parking
restriction is in place, removing the need to ask Whitehall first for
permission to use the sign.
However,
while successive Governments have recognised that there is no perfect solution
to this complex problem, I believe it is time to look again at this issue in
detail. That is why Ministers recently ran a consultation on
proposals that would allow local authorities with civil parking enforcement
powers to crack down on pavements being unnecessarily obstructed.
The
consultation also explores how a
nationwide ban on pavement parking, enforced by local authorities, could work.
A nationwide ban would need careful consideration and would have to allow, for
example, for necessary exceptions or designated spots for pavement parking where
required. The approach taken would also have to be tailored to the very
different challenges faced in
rural and suburban areas.
I
understand that the Department is currently still analysing the high
volume of responses to ensure that all views are captured, and that ministers
will carefully consider the consultation findings before deciding the
way forward.
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