On Monday, March 19, Rother District Council (RDC) Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet to discuss the implementation of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) across the district.
The Committee will receive the final report from the Civil Parking Enforcement Task and Finish Group who have recommended that:
- RDC formally write to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) to support the implementation of CPE
- The current parking pricing remain unchanged until CPE is in force
- Electric charging points be considered in planning policies
- CPE is reviewed one year after its introduction
The meeting is the latest update whereby the responsibility for enforcing parking controls is transferred from Sussex Police to ESCC enforcement officers (ie traffic wardens). Thereafter ESCC would fine those infringing parking rules such as parking on yellow lines; exceeding the time parked within waiting bays; parking in loading bays, bus lanes and on zigzags.
All income raised will remain with ESCC and be used to support local transport initiatives. Currently all money raised by Sussex Police, through penalty notices, goes to the Treasury.
The transfer of responsibility from the police to council will still take up to 24 months and has been further complicated by Wealden District Council rejecting the move to CPE. RDC had hoped to share set-up costs and benefit from the economies of scale by partnering with Wealden.
The meeting will hear that with Wealden’s withdrawal, the income from fines may not be sufficient. Therefore on-street charging for parking will need to be introduced to pay for the scheme and RDC will need to extend the ‘payback time’ to cover the costs that have already been incurred. Wealden will also be asked to contribute to cover some of those set-up costs.
If you are interested in how CPE will affect you, you can view a series of detailed maps (see above) which includes the location of the proposed pay and display zones.
Photo: Rye News library
“Thereafter ESCC would fine those infringing parking rules such as parking on yellow lines; exceeding the time parked within waiting bays; parking in loading bays, bus lanes and on zigzags.”
Hopefully, because this is the biggest problem, also fine those who over-stay in proper parking bays. Getting a proper turn-over of spaces is key to solving a lot of the problems. Removing shopkeepers and residents who park all day every day in the high street and surrounding roads, when the limit is 1 hour, would be hugely beneficial.
On street charging for motorists I think will just about kill our high street,the abuse by others who park day and night along the high street,has seen many give up and go elsewhere, let’s get the traffic wardens back,so at least people who wish to visit some of the shops, have a level playing field, unlike now,which helps no-one.