City's double-parkers face £60 instant fines

The Scotsman
ALAN MCEWEN (amcewen@edinburghnews.com amcewen@edinburghnews.com)



Double parking, or parking on pavements would become specific offences and warrant a fine on the spot.Picture: Danny Lawson







DRIVERS who double park face being hit with £60 on-the-spot fines under plans to deal with thoughtless motorists in the Capital.
Parking on pavements would also be punished with spot fines as part of the scheme designed to keep roads and walkways clear.

The zero-tolerance approach would require a change in the law to allow the city's Enforcers to ticket offenders.
The city council has now approached the Scottish Executive to gain the necessary powers, with Holyrood officials believed to back the idea.
It comes after incidents where double-parked cars hampered firefighters tackling blazes in the city. The crackdown - which comes after the Evening News highlighted the problem and called for action last year - was warmly welcomed today.
However, the AA said the tough new regime should not be enforced until the council provides more parking spaces.
City transport leader Andrew Burns said that drivers who double park were an "annoyance" to other motorists in Edinburgh.
He said: "These measures have been looked at for some time and they have been met with a positive response from the Executive. I'm sure they would also be broadly welcomed across the city.
"We are continuing discussions with other local authorities to see if there's consensus, so we can go back to the Executive as quickly as possible."
As with parking fines, the £60 penalty would be reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks.
The scheme drawn up for Edinburgh copies one in London where responsibility for dealing with offences such as double-parking was handed to councils from the police. The new measures are unlikely to come into effect for at least two years while the legislation is amended by MSPs.
Sue Nicholson, campaigns chief with the RAC, welcomed the plans. She said: "Drivers who double park cause difficulties for the emergency services, which could create life-threatening situations, but they also inconvenience to other road users."
But Neil Greig, head of policy in Scotland for the AA Motoring Trust, said the council needed to provide better parking facilities before implementing the measures. He said: "Alternatives, such as off-street parking, have to be provided to give drivers ways to get their cars off the roads."
Councillor Allan Jackson, the city's Tory transport spokesman, said: "The council needs to do as much as possible to provide enough parking spaces, but there would be broad support for outlawing double-parking.
"It's an abuse of the road which creates problems, particularly in narrow residential streets."
A recent survey of 500 car-owning residents also found that 90 per cent felt pavement parking was a "problem", with 90 per cent agreeing that it should be dealt with using parking tickets.
Councillor Burns added that the cost of repairing damaged pavements demanded new powers for traffic wardens to hand out tickets to offenders. He added: "In many streets we have laid expensive Caithness stone which can be badly damaged by heavy goods vehicles. That is taxpayers' money which is being lost."
Under current rules, double-parking and parking on a pavement are not specific offences, unless they are causing an obstruction. In those instances, the police have to deal with them.
Under the council's plans, the parking attendants hired by the local authority would take responsibility for the issue, and double-parking and parking on pavements would be specific offences.
A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "We are in early discussions with City of Edinburgh Council on this issue. We are awaiting their proposals, which we will consider when we receive them."