Maidstone Greens have slammed their local council on the lack of action against the continued nuisance pavement parking. Donna Greenan of Maidstone Greens asked the Full Council meeting last week about what they are currently doing to tackle the deep seated problem of pavement parking and was told nothing. The Greens have asked for concerted action to allow pedestrians to reclaim the pavements from inconsiderate drivers.
Donna Greenan, Maidstone Borough Council: “Pavements are for pedestrians, not cars. While we recognise that there are more cars than parking spaces in many parts of the town, it beggars belief that the council have failed to understand the impacts this has.
“People with young children and older people with mobility problems are often faced with having to walk in the road where pavements have been parked on. This is not acceptable so why does this council refuse to even begin to tackle it?
“We need a significant investment in public transport, cycle paths, pavements and car clubs to reduce the need for car ownership. We also need enforcement to stop inconsiderate pavement parking. It is only through providing people with viable alternatives to owning and driving cars that this problem will be tackled properly.”
Notes:
The questions to MBC
Donna: “Please can you tell me what MBC’s reponse will be to the Department for Transport’s current consultation ‘Pavement parking: options for change’?
Cllr David Burton replied that the council have already submitted their response, they have stated that they support option 1 to improve local authority powers regarding Traffic Regulation Orders combined with option 2 to allow civil enforcement powers to enforce against unnecessary obstruction. They do not support Option 3 which is the nationwide ban as London as they think it’s not suitable for our roads as they could up with lots of individual exceptions which result in signage and individual TROs.
Donna: “While the consultation is taking place what steps are the council taking to highlight the dangers of pavement parking for vulnerable residents through local newsletters and social media usage?”
Cllr David Burton replied currently there are no specific initiatives from the council that he is aware of to address this.
