Pavement and Grass Verge Parking

The Council receives many complaints each year from residents regarding parking on pavements and grass verges. These parked vehicles cause or could cause:

• Nuisance to pedestrians, particularly those with mobility difficulties or visual impairments,
• Damage to the structures of the pavement or grass verge, and
• Unsightly environmental damage.

Between June 2010 and September 2012, maintenance records indicate that approximately £55,000 has been spent either preventing parking on pavements or grass verges through physical interventions such as bollards and trips rails, or repairing pavements and grass verges following vehicular damage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What action can the Council take against pavement and grass verge parking?

If there are waiting restrictions (yellow lines) on the highway adjacent to the pavement then it may be possible to issue a Penalty Charge Notice, since a vehicle parked in this manner is in contravention of the Traffic Regulation Order as waiting restrictions cover the highway from the road centre line to the back of the footway. To report such instances please contact the Councils Parking Services team on 0121 704 6111.

If there are no waiting restrictions on the highway adjacent to the footway nd an obstruction is taking place then this should be taken up with the local Neighbourhood Policing Team by calling 0345 113 5000. You should ask to speak to the team responsible for your ward.

Are there any physical measures that can be introduced?

Physical measures such as double kerb arrangements, high containment type kerbs, bollards, tree/shrub planting, pedestrian guardrails and trip railings can all be used to tackle pavement and grass verge parking. Although many of these measures are effective, it is generally considered that they can prove prohibitively expensive and can often become ongoing maintenance liabilities. There have been instances where such measures have been wilfully vandalised. Use of such measures should therefore be carefully considered.

Is the Council proposing to take any longer term action?

As part of the Council’s latest efforts to tackle the issue of parking on pavements and grass verges, Officers are currently considering the introduction of a Traffic Regulation Order to ban pavement and grass verge parking. Based on information gathered to date, Dickens Heath village has been selected as a pilot location. Further information on the proposed scheme can be found here. You can also give your views on the scheme via the same link.

The success or otherwise of any pilot Traffic Regulation Order within Dickens Heath village will influence whether any such schemes are rolled out across the Borough in the future. The pilot Traffic Regulation Order will also help to inform the development of any future policy relating to pavement and grass verge parking. We currently have no estimate of when a decision is likely to be made as to the roll out of further such schemes, if appropriate.