Pavement ban ruled out – but council to get tough
ABLANKET ban on pavement parking in Macclesfield has been ruled out - but Cheshire East Council says it will get tougher with the issue.
The council is currently considering measures and will make submissions to a government review about the problem, before coming up with a draft strategy.
But it says any new regulations could be ‘targeted’ rather than borough wide as terrace streets in Macclesfield with no off-road parking have different needs than spacious rural areas.
Inconsiderate pavement parking does create problems though for groups including wheelchair users, partially sighted people and parents with prams.
And hotspot areas have included Sandgate Road, Hurdsfield, Beeston Brow and Kingsway, in Bollington, and Brampton Avenue, in Broken Cross.
The issue was debated at a council cabinet meeting, where Councillor Laura Crane, member for highways, said: “I would like to assure everybody that this isn’t a proposal to have a blanket ban on pavement parking in the borough.
“We’d also like to look at how we can encourage responsible parking in the borough through a mixture of education, design and physical features on the highway and enforcement.
“We all know it’s a very different situation in a rural ward compared to a terraced street in Crewe or Macclesfield. There just isn’t sufficient parking in those areas and we do need to take a different approach than we might where parking on the road is easily avoided.”
The Department for Transport is undertaking a review of current regulations that apply to parking on pavements. And the council intends to feed into this by highlighting what it says are the key issues.
Coun Nick Mannion, for Macclesfield West and Ivy, told the cabinet meeting people in his ward had to park on the street and there was no ‘one size fits all’ solution.
Among suggested measures to tackle the problem are using the planning process to ensure housing developments discourage pavement parking and getting residents to walk, cycle and use public transport instead of the car.
There is also enforcement action and this week council officers were in Poynton issuing tickets to cars parked illegally.
Coun Mick Warren, cabinet member for communities, said: “Pavement parking can have a seriously detrimental effect on communities. Parents with prams and small children, people with disabilities, including blind and partially sighted people, are all inconvenienced and put at risk.
“But there has to be a balance to ensure that any local restriction on pavement parking does not merely shift the problem around the corner.”