Council commits to do more to address pavement parking

Thank you to all of those who have reached out over the last month to raise concerns about pavement parking.

The individual cases, recurring offences, and hotspot areas have all been chased up with the Council by my team so we can clamp down on pavement parking in Oldham, Chadderton & Royton. While this progress is encouraging, we know that wider changes are needed to truly address the scourge of pavement parking.

The Council have now confirmed with us that, in recognising the frustrations, they have now completed the process of bringing the parking enforcement team in house. This means that instead of having the enforcement done by an arms length company, it is done directly by the council to enable them to take 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, with 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 – enabling them to 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 such as Union Street, Frederick Street, Broadway, and around local schools to keep communities safe.

Further measures have been confirmed locally, including: new employment opportunities from our local communities to ensure a full complement of staff; and a review of parking policies and processes to give recommendations reform in the near future.

Along with these deterrent measures to clamp down on pavement parking, Labour in government is acting to improve parking availability as a way of disincentivising pavement parking. On Friday, the government announced a 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 to protect motorists by raising standards across the private parking industry.

Through improvements to independent oversight, transparency, and accountability for poor practice by private parking operators, we are striking a balance: protecting motorists while also enabling compliant operators to run efficient, value-for-money car parks.

We know material results on local streets & roads are the ultimate goal, therefore, we will keep pushing the Council to do more and continue building the case for change at a local, regional and national level.