Every council to get strict new powers under government plan to clamp down on pavement parking
Councils in England will get new powers to stop parked vehicles obstructing pavement users, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced.
Listen to this article
This is aimed at making it easier for local authorities to impose pavement parking rules across wider areas.
Current regulations mean restrictions are often limited to individual roads and require costly, lengthy processes.
London and Scotland are the only parts of the UK where pavement parking is banned.
Read More: London's latest cash grab: Why hiking parking fines won't solve our problems
Local transport minister Lilian Greenwood said: "Clear pavements are essential for people to move around safely and independently, whether that's a parent with a pushchair, someone using a wheelchair, or a blind or partially sighted person.
"That's why we're giving local authorities the power to crack down on problem pavement parking, allowing more people to travel easily and safely and get to where they need to go."
Andrew Lennox, chief executive of charity Guide Dogs, said the announcement follows "years of campaigning".
He added: "Cars blocking pavements are a nuisance for everyone, but especially dangerous for people with sight loss, who can be forced into the road with traffic they can't see.
"When pavements are blocked, people with sight loss lose confidence, independence and the freedom to travel safely."
A survey of 1,709 UK drivers commissioned by the RAC in June and July last year suggested 83 per cent of motorists wanted new rules on pavement parking.
Some 42 per cent of respondents were supportive of an outright ban in England, while 41 per cent wanted councils to be given tougher powers to easily prohibit the practice on specific roads.
Only 13 per cent of those surveyed said they did not think pavement parking should be banned.
RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said: "A clear majority of drivers agree that no pavement user should be made to walk or wheel into the road because of someone else's inconsiderate parking.
"These proposals should clear the way for councils to prevent pavement parking where it causes problems, but permit drivers to partially park on pavements where doing so helps keep traffic flowing and doesn't inconvenience other people."
Erik Matthies, RNIB's Policy lead for travel and transport, who has sight loss, said: “New RNIB research has found vehicles parked on the pavement are still the biggest barrier that blind and partially sighted people face when trying to walk alone, with 82 per cent saying it’s an issue and 92 per cent saying they have had to walk into the road due to street obstacles. Reckless pavement parking forces blind and partially sighted people into the road and potentially into the path of moving vehicles they can’t see. This is stressful and highly dangerous for both pedestrians and others.
“RNIB welcomes the Government’s proposal to address pavement parking, but it falls short of the consistent, nationwide solution that we recommend. The proposal suggests a system similar to what’s currently in place in Scotland, which even two years on is being applied inconsistently across different local authorities. We’ll press the Department of Transport to go further and learn from the experiences from Scotland.”
The policy change follows a public consultation on the issue by the Conservative government in 2020.
The DfT said it will set out guidance to help local authorities use their new powers in a "proportionate and locally appropriate way" later this year.