New arrangements to ensure the roads of North Yorkshire are kept safe and obstruction-free are being introduced this month.
From 30 May 2013, responsibility for the enforcement of parking restrictions on the public highways throughout North Yorkshire will pass to North Yorkshire County Council. Agreement has been reached between all local authorities in the county, and the enforcement of the public highway and local authority managed off-street car parks will be carried out by Scarborough Borough Council (in Ryedale, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Scarborough) and Harrogate Borough Council (in Craven, Selby and Harrogate).
As the highways authority, the county council has a legal obligation to keep the roads free-moving, safe, and available to all users. At the moment, parking enforcement on the public highway is carried out on the county’s behalf by the borough councils of Scarborough and Harrogate, within their boundaries, and by the police elsewhere. The new arrangement gives the council the ability to manage the enforcement of parking and waiting restrictions across North Yorkshire.
County Councillor Gareth Dadd, Executive Member for Highways said:
Poor, dangerous and obstructive parking can pose a danger to pedestrians, reduce visibility for other motorists, and disrupt traffic flow.
Among other things, this arrangement will allow us to crack down on obstructive parking which causes congestion, to provide better turnover of short-stay parking spaces for the benefit of shoppers and local businesses, and to give greater protection to disabled spaces and residents’ parking areas.
From 30 May 2013, penalty charges will be standardised across North Yorkshire, bringing them into line with the charges currently imosed in Harrogate and Scarborough. There will be two different levels of penalty. Parking where waiting, stopping or loading are prohibited will constitute a higher level contravention, with a charge of £70. Failure to comply with the requirements in designated parking areas will lead to a charge of £50. Both penalties will be halved if paid within 14 days.
Councillor Gareth Dadd added:
Civil parking enforcement is most emphatically not about making a profit,” added Councillor Dadd. “The primary objective is to dissuade motorists from contravening parking restrictions. In fact, there is unlikely to be any surplus after administration costs are covered.
