The Welsh Government will introduce new rules on pavement parking after taking advice from our chairman Phil Jones.
From July 2022, local authorities are set to be given extra powers enabling them to fine those who park on footways. The recommendations were made to the Government by the Welsh Pavement Parking Task Force, which Phil chaired.
Phil simultaneously chaired a task force to introduce a new national 20mph default speed limit for the country, which ministers backed in July.
In a statement to the Welsh Government yesterday, Lee Waters, Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, said: “Together these two initiatives have real potential to save lives and to rebalance the environment in favour of pedestrians, to create communities that put people before cars.
“I would like to thank Phil and his panellists for all the work they have done.”
The Task Force considered the outright ban being pursued in Scotland, which is set to take five years to implement, but felt it was ‘overly slow and complex’, preferring to enable local authorities to enforce the existing offence of obstruction. The Department for Transport is presently consulting on options for England, including both the Welsh and Scottish approaches.
Phil added: “Pavement parking is a real issue across Britain, and poses particular danger for vulnerable people including those in wheelchairs, with pushchairs or who are blind or partially sighted.
“It also causes costly damage to pavements – with authorities regularly receiving hefty compensation claims from people who have hurt themselves after tripping on the uneven surfaces.
“I’m really pleased that Ministers have accepted all the recommendations in our report, which aim to make pavements safer and more appealing for pedestrians.
“It’s also great to see Wales leading the way again, as they did by voting to introduce a 20mph default speed limit for urban areas.”
The Welsh Pavement Parking Taskforce included representatives from the police and fire services, Federation of Small Businesses, Freight Transport Association and campaign groups including Disability Wales, Living Streets and Sustrans.
Click here to see the report from the Welsh Pavement Parking Taskforce.
Read more about Wales’ 20mph default speed limit here
