Will the Minister give an update on the planned delegation of additional civil enforcement powers to local authorities to enable them to fine problem parkers on pavements?
A Task Force Group to tackle the problem of parking on pavements in Wales investigated several options and concluded that the most efficient and quickest solution was to introduce subordinate legislation, which would add the offence of obstruction in respect of the pavement to the list of parking contraventions in the Traffic Management Act 2004. These new powers local authorities will have are not to enforce a blanket ban, but will allow them to deal with dangerous situations where vehicles parked on the pavement force pedestrians into the road.
We recognise that in some streets there are too many cars for the space available and the purpose of this isn’t to penalise people who have no alternative. Instead, it will give local authorities civil enforcement powers so they can make judgments of where to clamp down. They can target hotspots like schools and respond to local circumstances.
A working group involving all stakeholders is currently drafting enforcement guidance for local authorities before the legislation comes into force to help ensure a consistent approach is taken across Wales. This is as much about changing hearts and minds as it is about hard enforcement, and we will be developing a communications campaign rooted in values to make the case for change.