Derby City Council has welcomed a consultation launched by the Government on strengthening to the laws on pavement parking.

Derby introduced a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) banning footway parking within the inner ring road in August 2015. The aim was to improve pedestrian safety and has proved very popular.

The Council is considering extending the ban across the city and this national consultation will help advise the formation of any new policy to control anti-social parking across the city.

Following a request from Ward Councillors in Allestree notices have already been posted warning of potential fines for parking on verges following concerns from residents about their safety.

Illegally parked vehicles cost the Council thousands of pounds a year in damaged paving and grass verges and cause serious problems for the visually impaired, disabled people particularly wheelchair users and mobility scooter users, older people and people with push chairs. They are also a hazard to other road users causing visibility problems, utility companies and residents.

The Government consultation is asking whether a change of existing pavement parking legislation should occur.

They are proposing 3 options:

  • Improving the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process, under which local authorities can already prohibit pavement parking.
  • A legislative change to allow local authorities with civil parking enforcement powers to enforce against ‘unnecessary obstruction of the pavement’.
  • A legislative change to introduce a London-style pavement parking prohibition throughout England.

The consultation period began on Monday 31st August 2020 and will run until 22nd November 2020

Ann Webster, Derby City Council Lead on Equality and Diversity said:

The ban on pavement parking nationwide can’t come soon enough – the difficulties faced by disabled people are huge, for example, wheelchair users cannot get down a kerb to pass a car parked on the pavement and visually impaired people often bump into them or are less confident to go out in areas where this is happening.

Cllr Jonathan Smale, Cabinet Member for Communities Neighbourhoods and Streetpride said:

I am 100% behind this and endorse it. I believe we should be doing more to tackle those nuisance parkers that cause clear obstruction. I look forward to the outcome of this consultation and to seeing what further measures we can take wherever reasonably possible.