Warwickshire County Council is set to gain new powers to act on obstructive and pavement parking – but a senior official has warned it may be a mixed blessing.

Pavement parking is banned in London but highways and transport authorities – in Warwickshire's case the county council – elsewhere have no scope to act on anything other than marked parking restrictions. 

Work has been done through the current Labour government and its Conservative predecessor on how to address the issue.

A ministerial foreword from minister for local transport Lilian Greenwood MP (Lab) stated that "pavement parking undermines safety and restricts mobility" but added that any new rules would have to be implemented "with care". 

That has resulted in leaning towards a devolved – localised – approach as opposed to an outright ban. 

"While the overarching objective to make pavements accessible and safe remains unchanged, rather than introducing a 'one size fits all' national prohibition we will enable local transport authorities to prohibit pavement parking in their areas at the next legislative opportunity," she wrote.

There is also reference to affording the county "practical and proportionate" powers in relation to obstructive parkingwhile work to change the law takes place.

David Ayton-Hill, Warwickshire County Council's director for transport and economy, delivered an update to the communities overview and scrutiny committee this week.

advertisement

"It would bring some challenges to Warwickshire and other council areas," he said. 

"We allow pavement parking in a number of places in Warwickshire, it is a way of managing parking on narrow roads in some locations, so a general ban would be quite difficult for the council.

"We are working with the government and the consultation does allow for everyone to try to mitigate that, allowing local control on how we introduce pavement parking.

"Perhaps of more interest, they want to be moving more quickly on obstructive parking, to give local transport authorities the power to deal with that ahead of these legislative changes.

"We receive a number of enquiries every week – and I am sure you do as members – around obstructive parking, particularly around schools. We have no power to deal with obstructive parking if there are no parking restrictions in place so this would give us additional teeth.

"The devil will be in the detail. We are asking the Department for Transport (DfT) for more, guidance around how obstructive parking will work, what the definitions are, how it may be enforced. 

"There is a risk it could create a significant burden because we know there is obstructive parking in lots of places but we do see it as a useful tool to allow us to step up enforcement and take action where there is persistent obstructive parking."

Cllr Lorraine Grocott suggested some flashpoints could be mitigated through wider transport policy, particularly around home-to-school transport for children. 

advertisement

"I have a dedicated special needs school in my division," she said. 

"Unfortunately one of the biggest complaints from residents and people trying to move around the area is that a high proportion of those pupils come in via taxis and buses that are not particularly considerate about letting people through. 

"I have been having meetings with residents and headteachers involved and one suggestion was rather than having dozens of taxis and buses going down Blue Cap Road, they could use the park and ride for one relay bus.

"Could this be something you consider as part of your in-house provision?"

Mr Ayton-Hill indicated that such efficiencies were always under consideration while taking into account the needs of the individual children involved.

Panel chair Cllr Jan Matecki raised the grey area of grass verges between pavements and roads in rural areas.

"One of the biggest gripes residents have is not necessarily pavement parking but parking on grass verges," he said. 

"It will be interesting to see how that comes in where people are not actually parking on the pavement but on the verge. 

advertisement

"It is mainly an aesthetic thing but these verges are there to create a street scene and irresponsible parking can create quite a mess."

Mr Ayton-Hill indicated that was one of the elements the council was awaiting clarity on.