Oxfordshire pavement parking ban and fines plan approved

Pavement and verge parking powers were debated by county councillors today, June 30, after a motion was put forward by Bethia Thomas.

The leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, and Lib Dem county councillor, put forward plans to the county to ban the method of parking.

She said: “Pavement parking is a problem.”

Bethia Thomas (Image: Submitted)

Ms Thomas explained how it impacts older and disabled people with visual and mobility impairments, as well as those with children and pushchairs.

She said residents in her ward have been “pushed” into the road trying to manoeuvre around parked vehicles, and described fears for a “serious incident” on the roads.

Ms Thomas added that damage to pavements created by vehicle parking with either two or four wheels on them is a problem for “cash-strapped” councils.

She said the plan is not about a “war on motorists” and “pavement parking is dangerous, pavements are for people”.

Seconding the motion, councillor Judy Roberts (Lib Dem) said: “The pavement should be a safe space.”

Councillor Emma Garnett (Green) called for an end to antisocial parking, criticised the “bloating” of vehicles and the concreting of vast areas for car parking.

She said: “We need to make walking and wheeling attractive and safe.”

Councillor Lee Evans (Conservative) supported the plans, but called for the county cabinet to ensure the context of urban and rural roads is taken into account in the application of plans as they move forward.

He noted: “A one-size-fits-all approach for the entire county won’t work.”

County transport boss Gareth Epps supported the motion and agreed with Mr Evans that road circumstances should be taken into account in enforcement.

Councillor Hao Du (Reform) said: “Unfortunately, I cannot support the motion.”

He said, “I am not advocating that people park on pavements and block them”, but suggested the wording of the motion sounded like a “flat-out ban” of pavement parking.

The motion was approved with 50 votes for and one abstention.

Following the approval, county council leader Tim Bearder will write to the local transport minister in Westminster asking for further resources to implement the ban.

This follows a Department for Transport announcement shared in January to give local authorities “new and improved” legal control to “make it easier to restrict pavement parking across wider areas”.

Previously, applications to ban pavement parking were limited to individual streets.

A survey of 1,709 UK drivers, commissioned by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) last year, suggested 83 per cent want new rules on pavement parking.