Kilwinning road could dodge ban on parking

A SMALL stretch of road in Kilwinning is the only one in the whole of North Ayrshire where drivers could escape a ban for parking on the pavement, council officials have revealed.

Local authority staff examined around 2,700 streets looking for areas where parked vehicles might be exempt from the pavement parking ban.

And a section of Irvine Road in the town was the only one that they decided met the criteria.

Parking on the pavement is now punishable by a £100 fixed penalty ticket under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 - and North Ayrshire Council has now been enforcing the rules, along with other restrictions on parking across the area, for a week and a half.

The regime of ‘decriminalised parking enforcement’ (DPE) came into effect in North Ayrshire on March 28, though a ‘soft launch’ saw warnings handed out, rather than tickets, up to Sunday, April 14.

DPE transfers the power to enforce almost all parking offences away from the police and on to the shoulders of the local authority.

DPE has divided public opinion in the area, and no rule has sparked more discussion than that of parking on the pavement.

Since Monday, April 15, parking enforcement officers employed by the council have been able to hand out fines for a range of parking rule breaches.

Parking on a pavement will not be considered an offence if the layout or character of the footway would allow for a width of 1.5 metres to remain unobstructed when any part of a vehicle is parked on it.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 also gives councils the power to make some footways exempt from the pavement parking ban, in certain circumstances.

Exemptions may also be allowed “if the layout or character of the pavement and carriageway is such that the passage of an emergency vehicle would be impeded by a vehicle parked on the road”.

Ahead of the final sign-off on DPE at the council’s cabinet meeting in March, documents stated that footway assessments had been carried out across North Ayrshire.

These indicated that only a small number of streets in the area have significant footway parking where mitigation measures may be required.

North Ayrshire Council have now revealed just how many streets were assessed for potential exemptions and how many were identified as warranting one.

A spokesperson explained: “During 2023, North Ayrshire Council carried out an assessment of approximately 2,700 streets for potential exemptions.

“One street was highlighted for potential exemption - a section of Irvine Road, Kilwinning.

“In addition, a small number of streets were also highlighted which have significant footway parking, where mitigation measures may be required to minimise negative impacts on the wider road network, now that the regulations are being enforced.”

That mitigation could include a variety of measures such as one-way operation, changes to the road layout, priority working, road markings (such as parking bays or hatching) and traffic calming.

Information on the streets being considered for mitigation has not yet been announced.