A parking free for all

The parking situation in Lamlash must be addressed and soon. It is, literally, an accident waiting to happen.

We can all see that the island is far busier with cars, motorhomes and other vehicles, with busy car parks all over the island. However, it is in Lamlash that the problem seems to have manifested itself into a full blown crisis.

There are various reasons. Limited car parking spaces means more cars parking at the side of the road, but it is the indiscriminate nature of roadside parking, particularly across the junction of Benlister Road, that is the crux of the problem.

The police have tried to help. They have put cones on the road at the junction, but they mysteriously disappeared. They have been talking to drivers but, without parking restrictions, their hands are tied.

The installation and funding of road markings, signage and other traffic engineering measures on public roads and associated footways are entirely a matter for the roads authority, so it is up to North Ayrshire Council’s road department to act.

The police say that parking at or near junctions is not in itself an offence unless it can be deemed dangerous, causing an unnecessary obstruction, or in contravention of an existing no waiting or no loading order. It must be borne in mind that, although subjective in some cases, the criminal standard of proof required for such offences is high. Dangerous parking would require some element of risk such as fully obstructed views to be caused.

An unnecessary obstruction of a road would require the carriageway to be completely impassable and not merely requiring ‘give and take’ driver co-operation. It should also be noted that this type of driver co-operation frequently has a desirable traffic calming effect, police also say.

However, a box junction has been ruled out and advisory ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ zones are no longer approved for use in Scotland so roads chiefs will have put on their thinking caps to come up with a solution – and quickly.