Sheffield action to deal with problem parking forcing people off pavements on city streets

Coun Alexi Dimond, a Green Party member of Sheffield City Council, said that he suggested the idea of setting up a task and finish working group of councillors to look at how to make traffic restrictions work as efficiently as possible. He is particularly worried about parking that blocks pavements, forcing people out on to the road.

The idea of setting up the group was agreed on Wednesday (November 27) at a meeting of the council’s transport, regeneration and climate committee. The meeting also approved bus gates, new one-way roads and traffic bans in the city centre, plus two new 20mph speed limit zones in Greenland and Brincliffe.

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The group will aim to report to the council waste and street scene policy committee with recommendations by July 2025.

It will work on developing a city-wide strategy on dealing with obstructive parking on pavements and grass verges, as well as looking at the effectiveness of the council’s overall parking strategy.

Initiative

Coun Dimond said: “I was particularly delighted to receive cross-party support for my initiative of a cross-committee task and finish group to look at enforcement of traffic restrictions, with a focus on parking.

“Discriminatory and obstructive parking is unfortunately endemic in Sheffield. This new group will look at ways of empowering parking services staff to address prohibited parking in areas which they can enforce, and we will also look to work with the police and community on obstructive pavement parking in residential areas.

“Obstructive parking has many negative effects. It places people in danger – particularly children and young people, people with visual impairments, people who struggle with mobility and people with prams – as they are forced into the road.

“It also impacts public transport, as buses and sometimes trams get stuck behind parked cars or are blocked from stops. Cycle routes are also affected when cars are parked in cycle lanes.”

He added: “This builds on the council’s resolution to make Sheffield a pedestrian-friendly city, agreed by the full council this month after a motion was put forward by Sheffield Green Party.”