Parking is the perennial problem in Bollington. There are just
to many cars for the space available to park them. And as elsewhere,
selfishness results in seriously inconsiderate parking without,
apparently, a care in the world. There are constant calls for more
enforcement while many of us recognise that draconian enforcement
would kill off the shops and prevent many people from parking within
300 or more metres of their homes, and that's assuming there
is anywhere in the town to park at all.
Every now and then the parking problems at a particular spot flair
up and demand some action. The present (November 2010) hot spot
is around the Co-op store on the corner of Wellington Road, Albert
Road and Riverbank Close. This has long been a problem but the
re-development of the store has increased the problems in recent
weeks to the point that the local residents are, not unreasonably,
insisting on action. The difficulty is knowing what action can
actually be taken.
Rules of engagement
Responsibility for parking enforcement is shared between Cheshire
East Council's Parking Wardens and the Police.
Parking Wardens
There are just a few Parking Wardens responsible for
the whole of Cheshire East, and they pay intermittent visits
to Bollington, often after requests for attention from the Town
Council. They can ticket any vehicle that is illegally parked.
Illegality is determined solely by legal parking controls, that
is yellow lines and the conditions notified on nearby notices regarding
times of the day, days of the week, length of parking time and
repeat parking. If a vehicle is parked in an obstructive manner
away from yellow lines then it is not their responsibility and
they have no legal authority to take any action.
A vehicle is subject to parking control if any part of the vehicle
stands between the centre of the road and the boundary hedge, fence
or wall of the roadway behind any pavement. So, for instance, it
is illegal to park on the wide pavement in front of Heathcotes
on Palmerston Street, which has double yellow lines in front of
it, even though part of the pavement there is owned by Heathcotes
and provides adequate room for pedestrians to pass.
Police and PCSOs
The Police have no jurisdiction over vehicles parked on yellow
lines unless they are causing an obstruction. Indeed, they can
take action on vehicles causing obstruction in any public place
whether or not there are yellow lines. However, the obstruction
has to be real not just potential. So, for instance, if a vehicle
is parked on a pavement it is not an obstruction unless someone
tries to pass and cannot do so and is then prepared to stand and
provide evidence to the effect that they were actually obstructed.
Further, it is unlikely that the police will respond to an obstruction
complaint due to its low priority amongst police calls.
Most obstruction cases result from a high level of calls resulting
in a visit from our PCSO, Lindsey Whitehead, or our beat officer,
PC Gary Thurgoland, or possibly PCSO Gareth Barber. They will look
for obstructing vehicles in the area and await individuals or other
vehicles that are actually obstructed in order to provide the necessary
evidence for a prosecution.
Summary
In short, there seems to be very little we can do about poor parking
other than appeal to drivers better nature and to be more considerate.
There is a very low chance that any driver will get a ticket from
the Parking Wardens and Police action is likely to be little and
infrequent.
Increased action from the Parking Wardens tends to concentrate
around the shops and giving tickets to vehicles around the shops
in Palmerston Street or by the shops in Wellington Road results
only in shoppers avoiding those businesses in future. That can
have only one result - the shop will eventually close for lack
of business. That's not what we want. So should we be willing to
put up with a certain amount of inconvenience to protect the shops?
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