Motoring: Parking reforms proposed

4 Car

A more motorist-friendly approach to parking enforcement has been outlined by government officials. Under the new plans, councils will only be able to wheel-clamp persistent offenders, traffic wardens (to be renamed 'civil enforcement officers') will undergo extra training and the appeals process will be made easier.
Most crucially, enforcement and fines will be dealt with by councils rather than the police, effectively decriminalising parking offences.
The plans have been welcomed by the RAC Foundation as a 'fairer regime' than the current system. 'Over-zealous enforcement, confusing signs and lines, and the belief that councils are using parking fines to raise revenue rather than keep the traffic moving are all issues motorists raise with us,' said director Edmund King.
However, not all MPs were positive about the guidelines: chairman of the Commons Transport Committee Gwyneth Dunwoody said that it was 'a shame and an opportunity missed' to not allow the police to withdraw completely from parking enforcement, nor to create a single nationalised system standard across all local authorities.