Councils’ controlled parking issues

Have you been finding it harder to locate a parking space you don’t have to pay for these past few months?

We wouldn’t be surprised to hear that you had, because not only are there more cars being bought every day in the UK, but one in five councils have reduced the number of free street parking spaces available to motorists.

Furthermore, many have increased the number of parking attendants, so more people are being caught out and having to pay fines for overstaying or parking illegally.

Now, we don’t have a problem with people receiving fines for doing something they shouldn’t be doing, but what we’re not happy with is that drivers have fewer and fewer suitable parking bays available to them.

What are road users meant to do? Where can they park if there’s nowhere appropriate?

Since councils began taking over parking enforcement from the police in 2008, they seem to have gradually been making it more difficult for drivers to park.

Both the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation and the director of the RAC Foundation believe that councils need to reassess how they are dealing with controlled parking so that it is a benefit to residents instead of a nuisance.

We agree with them and hope to see some change soon.  

Photo © Philip Taylor PT via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence

Labels: attendants, bays, car, councils, driver, enforcement, fines, free, illegal, Metropolitan Police Federation, motorist, parking, police, RAC Foundation, space, street parking