Who can put down Yellow Lines - And who enforces them?

Robability

Hi,

I live on a close where there are private parking spaces for some of the occupants. These parking spaces are enforced by a private company who will issues fines/clamp if someone parks without a specific pass.

In the close there are double yellow lines, since it is off of a high-street, I assume to stop casual parking for visitors during the day.

My questions are:

- Who is responsible for the maintenance and enforcement of the yellow lines? Is it the council or the landowner? Can someone just paint double-yellows on a road if they desire to?
- Can the private parking company clamp + tow vehicles parked on the yellow lines, or are they restricted to vehicles parked in the bays?
- Should the council be monitoring parking on the double-yellows? are there any signs/information that should be displayed to support this?
- How can I check any of this information? Where are the regulations for management of this kind of thing stored?

I have no idea if anyone here can answer any of this, but since its such a large forum I thought I'd put it out there.

Thanks.

martindow

Is your close adopted by the council or are the residents responsible for its maintenance? It sounds as if it is not adopted and there will be some sort of management company or residents' committee which you pay at intervals. They will organise maintenance and the enforcement of parking and can paint what they like on the road. The council will have no jurisdiction or interest as the road is privately owned.

flyingscotno1

Robability wrote: »

- Who is responsible for the maintenance and enforcement of the yellow lines? Is it the council or the landowner? Can someone just paint double-yellows on a road if they desire to?
- Can the private parking company clamp + tow vehicles parked on the yellow lines, or are they restricted to vehicles parked in the bays?
- Should the council be monitoring parking on the double-yellows? are there any signs/information that should be displayed to support this?
- How can I check any of this information? Where are the regulations for management of this kind of thing stored?

I have no idea if anyone here can answer any of this, but since its such a large forum I thought I'd put it out there.

Thanks.

I'm not an expert in England- too many wee twists but as I understand it.

1. Depends who put them down. Landowner or Council. If council lines they will maintain- if they were put down by a landowner- their factor or themselves will have to do so.

Can anyone put down yellow lines- bit complex- even on a private road in some circumstances you can't in others well off the road like a car park you can.

2. If the lines are council lines then yes they should be enforcing them. No signs required for double yellows.

3. Ask the council if your road has a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) or is adopted. If it has the former the council will enforce. If it is not adopted the land owner/tenants will maintain. The council can however have a TRO on an non adopted road however.

lucylucky

Robability wrote: »

Hi,

I live on a close where there are private parking spaces for some of the occupants. These parking spaces are enforced by a private company who will issues fines/clamp if someone parks without a specific pass. Private companies cannot issue fines and clamping is to be outlawed soon.

In the close there are double yellow lines, since it is off of a high-street, I assume to stop casual parking for visitors during the day.

My questions are:

- Who is responsible for the maintenance and enforcement of the yellow lines? Is it the council or the landowner? Can someone just paint double-yellows on a road if they desire to? If it is private land then yellow lines mean nothing
- Can the private parking company clamp + tow vehicles parked on the yellow lines, or are they restricted to vehicles parked in the bays?
- Should the council be monitoring parking on the double-yellows? are there any signs/information that should be displayed to support this? If the road is not adopted then the council will not be interested.
- How can I check any of this information? Where are the regulations for management of this kind of thing stored?

I have no idea if anyone here can answer any of this, but since its such a large forum I thought I'd put it out there.

Thanks.

Some relevant info here
http://www.havering.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=13276

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?120350-Road-with-private-ownership-has-had-double-yellows-painted-on-where-do-we-park

flyingscotno1

martindow wrote: »

They will organise maintenance and the enforcement of parking and can paint what they like on the road. The council will have no jurisdiction or interest as the road is privately owned.

As I said in my last response I only know Scottish versions and not greatly well at that but I'd add-

I'm not sure they can do what they like on private road. We have a road near a hospital where the residents put residents parking only up etc and lines and that IIRC was against an act based on right of access and they still had to discuss it with council.

Also the council does have some jurisdiction to enforce landowners to maintain a road to an acceptable standard and I can have TRO and enforce on roads not owned by them.

Robability

lucylucky wrote: »

Some relevant info here
www. havering.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=13276

www. consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?120350-Road-with-private-ownership-has-had-double-yellows-painted-on-where-do-we-park

Thanks for those links..

It looks like without a TRO the yellow lines do not have the same meaning as standard yellows. Therefore I see 2 potentials, opening up more questions:

1) Assuming that no TRO exists, the yellow lines don't mean the same as they usually would. However, the question remains does that mean the private clamping company can clamp cars parked on them or are they are restricted enforcing the parking bays?

2) If a TRO does exist, then the council should be required to enforce the yellows. If that is the case, should the private company be allowed to clamp people who park on them, or is the purely the duty of the traffic enforcement officers?

Complicated stuff!

Strider590

On a similar note.....

Who puts down and pays for the "please keep clear" boxes outside the entrances to the homes of the over-privileged who's driveways exit onto a main road?

I could use one of those little boxes myself, it would be shared by my entire street of course, as we all find it a nightmare exiting our road in the morning......
Far more use to my entire street than to just Tarquin in his Merc AMG....

lucylucky

Strider590 wrote: »

On a similar note.....

Who puts down and pays for the "please keep clear" boxes outside the entrances to the homes of the over-privileged who's driveways exit onto a main road?

I could use one of those little boxes myself, it would be shared by my entire street of course, as we all find it a nightmare exiting our road in the morning......
Far more use to my entire street than to just Tarquin in his Merc AMG....

My local council does it.

Just ask, that is what I did and they happily did it.

(Not for the entrance to our home but for a shared small road)

darich

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Also the council does have some jurisdiction to enforce landowners to maintain a road to an acceptable standard and I can have TRO and enforce on roads not owned by them.

It would depend entirely on circumstances but in general if it's private then it's nothing to do the council and they have no interest in it.
That applies to both the condition and the TRO on it. If there's a TRO then it's 1 - a maintenance issue for lines/signs, 2 - wardens/enforcers then issuing tickets on private land.
Neither of the above are done as far as I'm aware.

If it's private road, then it's not council concern - end of story.

PS By TRO -I mean lining regulations and nothing else. In other cases of TRO council/police can and do enforce them.

flyingscotno1

darich wrote: »

It would depend entirely on circumstances but in general if it's private then it's nothing to do the council and they have no interest in it.
That applies to both the condition and the TRO on it. If there's a TRO then it's 1 - a maintenance issue for lines/signs, 2 - wardens/enforcers then issuing tickets on private land.
Neither of the above are done as far as I'm aware.

If it's private road, then it's not council concern - end of story.

PS By TRO -I mean lining regulations and nothing else. In other cases of TRO council/police can and do enforce them.

No, not as simple as that up here, ownership has little to do with the acts here. Might be different down there but that would be a dangerous line to adopt (pardon the pun)-

In Scotland the definition of road and public road- i.e a road is any way the public have access to- a public road is the same only maintainable at the public's expense. The council have the same rights and responsibility to regulate all roads (note not public roads!) so legally have the right to put lines down and regulate it under normal procedures. Similarly the owners might have to maintain it, but cannot put up signs and lines. There is a private access which is defined by gates and so forth and could be car parks or driveways.

In England there are things I don't know enough about (Highway Rights and so forth) but I suspect it is still very much possible for the authorities to regulate roads that are not publicly maintained but a right of way or access is maintained to the general public. Certainly for more serious offences RTA1988 will apply, so I'd be surprised if there wasn't something for parking.

darich

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

No, not as simple as that up here, ownership has little to do with the acts here. Might be different down there but that would be a dangerous line to adopt (pardon the pun)-

In Scotland the definition of road and public road- i.e a road is any way the public have access to- a public road is the same only maintainable at the public's expense. The council have the same rights and responsibility to regulate all roads (note not public roads!) so legally have the right to put lines down and regulate it under normal procedures. Similarly the owners might have to maintain it, but cannot put up signs and lines. There is a private access which is defined by gates and so forth and could be car parks or driveways.

In England there are things I don't know enough about (Highway Rights and so forth) but I suspect it is still very much possible for the authorities to regulate roads that are not publicly maintained but a right of way or access is maintained to the general public. Certainly for more serious offences RTA1988 will apply, so I'd be surprised if there wasn't something for parking.

I live "up here" too :beer:
Can't ever see a local authority maintaining a private road for a person/company. I know mine doesn't.

I also know that when a road that used to public reverts to the land owners ie road becomes private, my council effectively washes their hands of any maintenance.

Why should I as a tax payer pay for the maintenance of a road I cannot use? Councils "up here" do not maintain private roads. By your reasoning then, any farmer with a long drive could get their "road" maintained.