Enforcement group set up to help alleviate parking issues

Rother District Council made the decision to establish the Civil Parking Enforcement Task and Finish Group (CPETFG) during an overview and scrutiny committee meeting in September.

At present Rother District Council is one of just 17 authorities out of 330 across England and Wales to not take parking responsibilities away from police, who say they have more important things to deal with.

Residents, businesses and councillors have previously claimed the lack of action from police has meant that parking regulations have not been adhered to, causing illegal parking and nowhere for visitors or tourists to leave their vehicles.

They called for parking to be ‘decriminalised’, meaning East Sussex County 
Council would be made responsible for parking across the district.

The aim of Rother District Council’s new enforcement group is to establish whether the implementation of a Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) scheme in Rother would alleviate these parking issues, as well as ease congestion and improve road safety across the district.

Currently, East Sussex County Council regulates the parking restrictions across Rother and Sussex Police enforces these restrictions.

Rother District Council is not an enforcement authority but it can request East Sussex County Council to consider the introduction of a Civil Parking Enforcement if required.

At a meeting on Thursday, October 5, the enforcement group considered maps indicating all existing parking restrictions and discussed suggested parking zones and proposed charging structure.

The civil parking enforcement group said a desired outcome would include an evidence-based list of options available to the council, analysis of the cost and requirements and whether Civil Parking Enforcement implementation would be supported by businesses and residents.

The group is examining whether Civil Parking Enforcement would result in the desired outcomes of easing congestion, improving road safety, improving the local environment, improving the quality and accessibility of public transport, and managing parking.