PARKING powers could be placed in Wokingham Borough Council’s hands.
Last night, the council’s executive voted to apply for civil parking enforcement powers.
Now the Department for Transport will be approached to seek approval for the plans, which will see the Council introduce a more consistent management of on-street parking, resulting in a reduction in traffic disruption, improved road safety, reduced parking contraventions and generally improve environmental impacts related to road traffic.
At the moment, parking violations are covered by Thames Valley Police and Wokingham borough is the only one not to have its own powers.
In the briefing paper that the executive considered last it, the council noted that: “[Parking] is considered as a low priority for them and they apply little resource to it. This is partly due to the fact that Wokingham is the only Borough in the Thames Valley police area that has not taken on these powers. This results in a large number of complaints to the Council about illegal parking and the abuse of parking restrictions as drivers feel they will not be caught.”
If the DfT approves the plans, it is expected that it will take between 18 months and two years for the council to take charge of the borough’s parking enforcement.
