County Council wants to take over Police role enforcing parking rules locally

19/10/2020

If approved the scheme would lead to the creation of more pay-and-display on street parking

Oxfordshire County Council is planning to apply to take over responsibility for civil parking enforcement in the Cherwell District.   This is currently overseen by Thames Valley Police.

If the idea is approved the County Council says it will create additional on-street pay-and-display parking spaces.

The County Council currently enforces parking in Oxford City and West Oxfordshire.   This move would see them take over responsibility from the Police here in the Cherwell District and also in South Oxfordshire and the Vale.    They say the move would ensure continuity across the whole county and lead to safer roads and help traffic to move more freely.

If the plans are approved by district councillors at the Vale of White Horse, South Oxfordshire and Cherwell, then the new measures could come into force across the county by November 2021.

The proposal, which was agreed by the county council’s Cabinet on Tuesday, October 13, would also lead to the creation of up to 168 new on-street pay-and-display car parking spaces in the Vale, South, and Cherwell districts.

The aim is for the new arrangement to be self-funding, with the extra pay-and-display spaces helping to pay for enforcement costs, although there would be some limited funding from the three districts.

Cllr Yvonne Constance, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Environment, said: “This is not a way to make more money out of motorists, but to ensure our roads are safer and kept clear of obstacles to keep the traffic moving.

“The aim is to achieve 100% compliance of parking regulations. If that was to happen then there would be no income from penalty charges. However, if drivers choose to park illegally, they should expect to receive a fine.

“The ideal situation would be for there to be no fines because no-one was breaking the parking regulations.

“In addition, the creation of additional on-street parking would help our market towns in the recovery period as it would lead to a greater turnover of spaces, which is better for shops and businesses.”

The County Council says members of the public would be able to report areas and incidents of illegal parking through a dedicated email address and telephone line. Officers would investigate and take enforcement action as required.

Parking offences, which include overstaying in pay-and-display bays, double-parking, dropped kerb obstruction and yellow line infringements, would be enforced by the county council’s contractor Conduent. Penalty charges would range from £50-£70, but would be reduced by 50% if paid within 14 days.


Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam

Reader's opinions
  1. IVOR HOWSE   On   19/10/2020 at 5:17 pm

    don’t trust he county council with anything keep it locale they will just be out to line the county councils pockets it want help cherwell in any way

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