Sheffield locals ‘overwhelmingly in favour’ of pavement parking ban

Sheffield locals are overwhelmingly in favour of potential government plans to ban motorists from parking on the pavement.

According to a study by used car dealership group Big Motoring World, roughly two in three (65%) people from Sheffield agree that this should be made illegal.

Pavement parking has been banned in London since 1974, and several other city councils across the UK have been pushing for the power to introduce new rules and fines for this in their areas too.

The Department for Transport has reportedly been drawing up plans to tackle pavement parking across the UK, with an outright ban one of the options under consideration.

On 20th May 2024, new enforcement rules were put in place in Sheffield for parking across dropped kerbs (lowered for vehicle access or pedestrians) and parking in cycle lanes – which falls under ‘obstructive parking’.

Fines for parking in bus lanes and at bus gates were already enforced.

While this rule change wasn’t a total pavement parking ban, instances of ‘obstructive parking’ could previously only be enforced by police, whereas now the Council can issue £70 fines for these disruptions to road safety.

The council said these new enforcement rules had been introduced following ‘a recent consultation in which over half of locals said they’d experienced vehicles blocking their driveways’.

A full ban on all pavement parking may follow if the Council can get the government to grant them the power to enforce this.

250","classid":1073872969,"properties":[201342446,"1",201342447,"5",201342448,"1",201342449,"1",469777841,"calibri",469777842,"arial",469777843,"calibri",469777844,"calibri",201341986,"1",469769226,"calibri,arial",268442635,"22",469775450,"normaltextrun",201340122,"1",134233614,"true",469778129,"normaltextrun",335572020,"1",469778324,"default="" paragraph="" font"]">Despite many locals being in favour of the idea, over half of local Sheffield motorists (65%) surveyed said they were unaware that a bigger rule change could be coming soon.

Ian Hajyzamanali, Head of Marketing, at Big Motoring World added: “Pavement parking is a topic that is sure to divide opinion.

“Pedestrians are often frustrated at their path being blocked by cars, but many motorists who have no choice but to park on narrow roads (and do not have access to a driveway) will be scratching their heads and wondering what they are supposed to do.

“The fact that most people have not heard about any proposed plans for a pavement parking ban clearly showcases that information needs to be more widely communicated to motorists so that they can plan accordingly.”