Issue - meetings

To update members on progress made so far by FDC and Cambridgeshire County Council in respect of the CPE implementation works, following the Cabinet decision on 22^nd March 2021 to progress with the introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement for On and Off-Street parking places within Fenland.

Members considered the Civil Parking Enforcement Update report presented by Councillor Mrs French.

Councillor Mrs French had attended a meeting on 7 September where County Highways and Transport Committee approval was given to progress civil parking enforcement plans. She stressed that we are not bringing in car parking charges unless Government forces us to do so. Councillor Mrs French shared details of the project delivery timeline, which will include a period of statutory consultation, leading up to the planned implementation of civil parking enforcement in October 2023. 

Councillor Mrs Laws said she welcomed this news; civil parking enforcement cannot come to Whittlesey quickly enough because of parking abuse. It is disappointing it will take so long but she understands that there is a procedure to follow.

Councillor Murphy also welcomed the news, but he is disappointed it will not be implemented earlier. Parking in Chatteris gets worse by the day with people parking on double yellow lines, bends and at road junctions etc.

Councillor Seaton said he fully supports the proposal. However, it is his understanding that initially only the four market towns will benefit from civil parking enforcement and he asked how long it will be before it is enforced in the rural areas. Councillor Boden responded that it would come into force across all of Fenland at the same time. There will have to be mechanisms in place as to how it will work but there will be discussions with the town and parish councils. Councillor Seaton welcomed the news that it will be incorporated across the whole district as we are all aware of rural parking problems.

Councillor Mrs French advised that she had this morning attended a meeting of the Community Safety Partnership and spoke to Inspector Ian Lombardo as to whether he would arrange some parking enforcement, particularly around schools, over the next few months.

Councillor Tierney said residents have been asking for years why we cannot have traffic wardens. This is a good policy and he also supports it as it has been demanded for some time. However, it is a shame we cannot dig into the bureaucracy; it should not be this difficult. We should not have to jump so many hurdles to do something that people clearly support. He asked if there is any way to speed up the process and make it simpler with checks and balances in place. One observation he would make for the record is that most of the public are very supportive of this, but he predicts that a few years down the line there will be complaints about the system and the new rules brought into place; unfortunately, that is the nature of public service. Nevertheless, it is a good policy, well done to Councillor Mrs French and he hopes it crosses the line. 

Councillor Boden said that he would like to make one correction to Councillor Tierney’s comment and stressed that apart from any changes taking place in the ordinary course of business, we will  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26