Council plans to take parking powers online

AN ONLINE tool allowing residents to view all of Wokingham Borough’s 500 Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) is due to be discussed by the council’s Executive committee this evening (Thursday).

If approved, the new visual TROs map will replace the old style written documents, and will be easier and quicker to understand.

The map-based TROs are part of Wokingham

Borough Council’s (WBC) final preparations to take on Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) from Thames Valley Police by the end of this year.

CPE covers double and single yellow lines, loading restrictions, double parking or parking across dropped kerbs, parking in a residents’ parking zone without a permit, and overstaying in time-limited bays. The new powers will give the borough council the muscle to tackle congestion and improve road safety and make parking fairer for everyone.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is currently processing WBC’s application and has agreed it in principle.

The final stage is for the application to be ratified in parliament.

A contractor has now been appointed by Wokingham Borough Council to carry out enforcement on its behalf.

This company will also co-ordinate parking permits, penalties (fines), and oversee the appeals process.

Cllr Chris Bowring, WBC’s executive member for highways and transport, said: “Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation this spring into the new mapbased TROs, which will go on our website.

“Having all the TROs in one place, easy to access and easy to understand, will make the whole process far more transparent and accessible for people.”