Parish Council right to erect no parking signs for road next to village green

KeithP

Here is a nearby Longhorsley Parish Council sign...
[a GSV image - click on it]
... where they do have their name on it.

daveyjp

Its a sign with a request.  It will either work, or it won't, but it is in no way enforceable.

LavenderBees

Thank you, All!

I feel better now. I'll see what the Parish Councillor says.  The signs that you indicate above are very old, have been around for many decades. Newer signs placed at random almost by Parish Council over the past relatively recent years to prevent parking for longer than an hour are small blue signs with white writing and no Longhorsley Parish Council scribed on them. Anyone overstaying where those signs are, seem to get a note left on their windscreen - honestly, who has time to do this sort of thing?? 

Loved the comment about the apostrophe - made me laugh and really lightened my mood on this.

My car is still parked up there and I'll not be moving it until I want to. I clearly am not blocking any access to any houses there. Neither, to be fair, is anyone parking opposite this resident's drive blocking access. Thanks for all your comments, really appreciated. I'll hopefully conclude this tomorrow with what I'm told by the Parish Councillor. 

Coupon-mad

A note on the windscreen would make me laugh!

I was once stopped perfectly legally on double yellow lines opposite my son's school, as his school trip bus returned from a week abroad.  They were unloading the cases, one of which I was to load into my boot as well as collecting my exhausted son.

All of that is allowed on double yellows if you pretty much (as far as practicable when loading) remain with your car. Loading and picking up passengers is exempt activity - which I knew - hence why I was careful to choose a double yellow line rather than a residents' bay or bus stop (not allowed).

Suddenly out of a house runs this mad woman with a camera, taking photos and shouting that I am parked illegally, and that she was "sending her evidence" to the Council, LOL!

Why do so many people wrongly think you can't stop on DYL?!

Anyway I grinned and held the suitcase up and posed for the camera, politely putting her right on what DYL mean.  They positively INVITE loading and unloading - it's one of the many reasons why they are there!

She scurried back indoors...

I used to work at the school where I learnt how to command & gain the respect of unruly teenagers, so I am a bit of a scary woman when I want to be heard...and I hate small minded eejits!

I'd park where you are describing.  Totally with you.

LavenderBees

Well, hopefully to conclude this mini saga disrupting my little life....firstly, a big thank you to you all for contributing and giving me the confidence to tackle this. Also a thank you for the education on Double Yellow Lines! I promise I was not THAT woman who accosted you, Coupon Mad, but I didn't know that!

So, I'm back from my meeting on the village green. I've explained my concerns to the Parish Councillor, who confirmed it is a PC sign, put up as a result of (and these are my words) badgering from one or two of the residents... I won't go into detail online but none of it surprised me. She confirmed what you all told me - they cannot police this, cannot insist it is adhered to, nor will there be fines levied. I explained why I was so concerned about the wording. Few, if any, of the current Parish Councillors understand the significance of  "Village Green Land" and how far beyond today's village green that actually extends. Half the village in effect could become a no park zone. She fully appreciated my concerns and will go back to the rest of the Parish Council to suggest a wording change to try to discourage school drop off problems but allow residents to park as usual. In the meantime, I'll continue to park as I always have done.

Hopefully, that's the end of this as far as I'm concerned. Back to my little life of keeping a roof over my head. But thank you again for stopping by to help me. VERY much appreciated. Have a lovely weekend!

HampshireH

Your Parish Council dont seem very organised. At the very having the PC name on it would make it more professional.

It will be parish funds that have paid for this and there doesn't seem to be much thought put into it. Rectifying it with Parish funds too could be disputed. I'd be surprised if they bothered changing it unless they have surplus funds

LavenderBees

Yep, I agree. I've also given her a couple of other suggestions, too. Including take the sign down altogether, which is clearly the cheapest option.  Along with a suggestion that in future, they consult people who are affected before they make decisions... 

Half_way

Keep an eye on things, this could go down the route of the parish council in its infinite ( lack of) wisdom deciding to obtain the services of an "expert" parking contractor, and issue nearby residents with "penalty" charge notices where "illegally" parked cars can be issued "penalty" charge notices, and the one or two residents will have a field day self ticketing anything with wheels and a number plate that so much as stops in the vicinity gleefully using a PPC app on their phone to report such vehicles

 It all depends upon how clued up they are,I'm guessing not very. I wold also hazard a guess that the complainers are relatively new to the area, especially if parking here has been going on for many many years and has only recently become an issue

sevenhills

Half_way said:

Keep an eye on things, this could go down the route of the parish council in its infinite ( lack of) wisdom deciding to obtain the services of an "expert" parking contractor, and issue nearby residents with "penalty" charge notices where "illegally" parked cars can be issued "penalty" charge notices, and the one or two residents will have a field day self ticketing anything with wheels and a number plate that so much as stops in the vicinity gleefully using a PPC app on their phone to report such vehicles

 It all depends upon how clued up they are,I'm guessing not very. I wold also hazard a guess that the complainers are relatively new to the area, especially if parking here has been going on for many many years and has only recently become an issue

Parish councils have no responsibility for parking, their amateurish approach should tell you that.

fisherjim

sevenhills said:

Half_way said:

Keep an eye on things, this could go down the route of the parish council in its infinite ( lack of) wisdom deciding to obtain the services of an "expert" parking contractor, and issue nearby residents with "penalty" charge notices where "illegally" parked cars can be issued "penalty" charge notices, and the one or two residents will have a field day self ticketing anything with wheels and a number plate that so much as stops in the vicinity gleefully using a PPC app on their phone to report such vehicles

 It all depends upon how clued up they are,I'm guessing not very. I wold also hazard a guess that the complainers are relatively new to the area, especially if parking here has been going on for many many years and has only recently become an issue

Parish councils have no responsibility for parking, their amateurish approach should tell you that.

I understand that Parish Councils can issue fixed penalty notices only for environmental offences e.g., littering, graffiti and fly posting.

Parking offences are dealt with by the District Council though the areas covered would be after after consulting with the Parish Council out of courtesy.

The actual law concerning parish councils providing parking facilities is covered below, though I think this is beyond the scope (and me) of this actual situation:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/27/part/IV/crossheading/provision-of-parking-places-by-parish-or-community-councils