New telegraph pole installed, would like it moved - please help!

robatwork

The whole parking-on-pavement situation in the UK is a debacle. Some areas I know of eg. Hillingdon ticket ferociously if you are 1cm on a kerb or over a yellow/white line.  Others eg. Hemel H permit parking cars completely on the kerb even totally blocking the pavement, and seem wholly unconcerned.  It's time our councils started dealing with this consistently - if pavements are deemed wide enough and suitable for parking they should be marked so it's obvious. 

molenpad

I don't advocate parking on the pavement, in fact where I live now it causes a lot of problems especially on new-build estates, but it's important to ensure the right information is being communicated. Outside of London, the rule is advisory, and not backed up by any legislation

Ref: https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/legal/parking-on-the-pavement/

oldernonethewiser

In Scotland the legislation contained within the Parking and the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 should be enforced from sometime this year making pavement parking an offence nationally.

Will be interesting to see the fall out.

Section62

robatwork said:

The whole parking-on-pavement situation in the UK is a debacle. Some areas I know of eg. Hillingdon ticket ferociously if you are 1cm on a kerb or over a yellow/white line.  Others eg. Hemel H permit parking cars completely on the kerb even totally blocking the pavement, and seem wholly unconcerned.  It's time our councils started dealing with this consistently - if pavements are deemed wide enough and suitable for parking they should be marked so it's obvious. 

The difference is Hillingdon is in London where specific legislation is in place - parking on the footway or verge is only permitted where signage explicitly states this (blue signs).

Outside London (in England) councils can make a traffic order to prohibit parking on a verge or footway. This is a prohibition, so the signs are red circles.  If there are no signs prohibiting parking on the footway or verge then the question is whether the parking is obstructive or dangerous. Unlike the previous cases, obstructive/dangerous parking is not decriminalised, therefore isn't something local authorities can enforce against.

Councils can only enforce in accordance with the legislation.  They (outside London) also have the issue of it being preferable (in some cases) for footway parking to take place, but don't have the mechanism (yet) to distinguish between places where such parking is authorised rather than prohibited.

Essentially the issue has been fudged (outside London) because of the huge costs involved in doing the job properly (i.e. with signs and markings).

Sunsaru

Sadly there are some roads where you just have to park on the curb. I used to live in a street like that. Luckily the pavement was wide enough so that you could still get a buggy/wheelchair on the pavement. (We had a resident or 2 who used wheelchairs). The main reason for doing so was that it was a bus route as well. No complaints from the residents or pedestrians though you would get the odd Herbert parking so close you could barely get out your front door.

Alderbank

oldernonethewiser said:

In Scotland the legislation contained within the Parking and the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 should be enforced from sometime this year making pavement parking an offence nationally.

Will be interesting to see the fall out.

It certainly will.
In the part of Scotland where I live, council officers are currently working on the premise that exemptions to the footway parking ban will be implemented if a vehicle can be parked partly or wholly on the footway such that a minimum width of 1.5m of clear footway can be retained for pedestrian use.

That width can be reduced to 1.2m to clear obstructions such as sign poles.

Exemptions will also be applied if it is not possible for emergency services to access a street.

So in the case of the street we are discussing, drivers would still be able to park exactly as they do now

justwhat

Sunsaru said:

Sadly there are some roads where you just have to park on the curb. I used to live in a street like that. Luckily the pavement was wide enough so that you could still get a buggy/wheelchair on the pavement. (We had a resident or 2 who used wheelchairs). The main reason for doing so was that it was a bus route as well. No complaints from the residents or pedestrians though you would get the odd Herbert parking so close you could barely get out your front door.

They are parking on the pavement because they are parking on both sides. Double yellow lines on one side of the road would sort that out                              

Section62

justwhat said:

Sunsaru said:

Sadly there are some roads where you just have to park on the curb. I used to live in a street like that. Luckily the pavement was wide enough so that you could still get a buggy/wheelchair on the pavement. (We had a resident or 2 who used wheelchairs). The main reason for doing so was that it was a bus route as well. No complaints from the residents or pedestrians though you would get the odd Herbert parking so close you could barely get out your front door.

They are parking on the pavement because they are parking on both sides. Double yellow lines on one side of the road would sort that out                              

And they are probably parking on both sides because there isn't enough parking on one side for everyone.

The traffic authority cannot make an order to restrict parking without good reason, nor without carrying out consultation and considering objections with an open mind.  If they make the order contrary to the wishes of the local residents, and cannot justify doing so, then the decision to make the order could be vulnerable to judicial review (see Cran & Ors, R (on the application of) v Camden London Borough Council [1995]).

The use of yellow lines would only "sort that out" if the loss of parking can be justified on grounds of safety etc, and the traffic authority are able to make a compelling case to the local residents.

Not having somewhere to park close to your home is a big issue for a lot of people, councils know this, and have to balance the conflicting needs of road users very carefully in such cases.

Spendless

Is it outside your house? Your first post says 'across the road'. if it's your neighbours then I'd leave them to deal with it unless they  specifically wish you to all join forces in seeing if anything can be altered from it's current position.

Your description of where your road is, says why you have problems with parking, it's because it's close to certain aminities. When I moved to my property over 20 years ago, I knew it was near a school. I checked out the parking in advance. It didn't quite come up to/only came up to my house. 20 years on, there's more cars because the catchment area has expanded due to new builds on sites where previously there was no housing. As much as I can I avoid school run times eg my Nan's funeral left from my house last week, I specifically asked the funeral drectors for a time outside school drop off/collection. My parents didn't want Nan leaving from their place - 2 streets away because they live in a cul-de-sac and knew it had the potential to be difficult.

I'd just  sort out my own life with regards to parking my vehicle. If it impacts on you too much I'd consider moving. 

Section62

Spendless said:

Your description of where your road is, says why you have problems with parking, it's because it's close to certain aminities.

From the OP's description I took it that the lack of parking was due to it being a local authority estate originally which wasn't provided with (adequate) off-street parking when built.

This is a common problem - many of these estates were built at a time when private car ownership wasn't very high, and in many cases assumptions were made about the affordability of private cars to the people occupying LA homes.

Times have changed, and not only has the affordability of private cars become easier, the need for people residing in the estates to own and use a car is often greater than in other (less affordable) areas within the locality.

It ca be a real issue, and I can see why the OP is concerned about the loss of further parking opportunity (albeit one which isn't strictly allowed perhaps)