Surrey County Council cracks down on anti-social parking
19/10/2009 12:00:00
Surrey County Council is taking advantage of new legislation to crack down on anti-social parking.
The council recently launched its £1million Drive SMART campaign against anti-social driving in partnership with Surrey Police and identified that one of the concerns most frequently mentioned by residents was inconsiderate parking.
New powers have become available under the Traffic Management Act which allow councils to crack down on double parking and parking next to a dropped kerb under certain circumstances. Adoption of these powers is optional but the county council has chosen to go ahead with them knowing how much such parking annoys its residents.
Double parking blocks roads, causes congestion and makes it difficult for larger vehicles (such as fire engines) to reach their destinations. Parking next to a dropped kerb at a crossing point makes it difficult for people to cross the road, particularly those using wheelchairs or pushing prams.
Driveway access
And stopping people getting in or out of their driveways by parking in front of their drives will also make a driver liable to a penalty charge notice (parking fine).
Surrey’s borough and district councils will take on the new parking powers on the county council’s behalf.
In the case of homes, enforcement will only take place after the resident has reported that a vehicle is blocking their drive and will be dependent on resources being available. But officers will be encouraged to act whenever they see vehicles blocking a crossing point.
Ian Lake, the council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Parking enforcement is an essential way of keeping traffic moving and making the roads safer, not a way of making money. We know that inconsiderate parking causes inconvenience to our residents, increases congestion and in some cases is dangerous. We have chosen to adopt these optional powers to help improve the quality of our residents’ lives.”
Drive SMART is a year-long campaign by Surrey County Council and Surrey Police to tackle the problem of anti-social driving. One of the first initiatives by Dr Andrew Povey, the newly elected Leader of Surrey County Council, was to pledge £1million to set up the campaign after the issue was regularly identified as a concern by residents to local councillors.