Government set to squash plans to solve city's parking woes (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Government set to squash plans to solve city's parking woes

April 13, 2010 12:00 AM

Joint Leader of Leeds City Council Richard Brett has expressed disappointment at the Government's apparent rejection of a plan to crack down on nuisance parking.

Following a consultation with residents, Leeds City Council submitted a proposal requesting for powers for council officers to issue fixed penalty notices to vehicles causing an obstruction. This would require an amendment to schedule 7 of the traffic management act 2004 to give more powers to civil enforcement officers to issue fixed penalty notices.

The Department of Communities and Local Government chose to work with the Local Government Association to create a shortlist of proposals under the Sustainable Communities Act. Last year 301 proposals were reduced to 199 (Leeds' proposals were included in this) but since then the Council's proposal seems to have been rejected to the great disappointment of Joint Leader of Leeds City Council, Councillor Richard Brett.

Councillor Brett (Burmantofts and Richmond Hill) said:

"Council officers have worked extremely hard consulting with residents and drawing up the proposal. The fact that they appear to have just been dismissed by the government is a terrible blow for us.

"Our proposal addresses a genuine public concern for the people of Leeds. It involves a simple amendment to legislation that could be implemented quickly at no cost to central government. The processes for dealing with the issuing, paying and challenging of Penalty Charge Notices are already in place here so there would be very little additional cost to us as an authority.

"We want the power to ensure local people are free to move along the city's footways without obstruction. The police do have the power to remove vehicles but they have other priorities and are unable to sufficiently tackle the problem.

"We are talking about making a huge difference to the lives of the people of Leeds. Pedestrians, cyclists, people with disabilities, parents and their children are blighted by parked cars blocking public rights of way and causing a hazard. The Police would then be free to tackle other crimes."