THE PARKING CHALLENGE FACING LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Parking is now a key issue for urban local authorities in the UK, due to rising resident parking pressures in older urban areas, the spread of decriminalised enforcement, and the requirement to impose maximum parking standards in the draft revision of Planning Policy Guidance Note 13 (PPG13). Local authorities need to be aware of the major changes occurring, and able to manage their parking to match the requirements of their traffic restraint policies. They can manage adequately only if they decriminalise. This article discusses some challenges that they face in on-street parking, off-street parking, Workplace Parking Levies (WPPL), and parking standards in new development. The Road Traffic Act 1991 gave local authorities the power to take over decriminalised responsibility for enforcing many on-street parking regulations. All London Boroughs were required to apply it in July 1994 but local authorities elsewhere in the UK have been slow to adopt it, for several reasons, including poor advice that they often received from consultants or their own officers. Decriminalisation can bring substantial local benefits. Multi-storey car parks should be demolished if they cannot be made acceptably secure. The Government does not fund local parking but gives local authorities the choice of using road pricing or WPPLs.