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Pavement Parking

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Below, a personal appeal from Nick Hines - supported by an official statement from the police.

Whether it is due to the increasing number of vehicles and subsequent overcrowding of our streets or not, pavement parking seems to be more prevalent today than at any time in my life. Unfortunately this creates all sorts of problems. Walk around Eynsham at any time of day or night and you will find cars that are half on the pavement and half on the road. One can only assume that the driver is trying not to block the road but in most cases there is still room for only one vehicle to pass and others are still held up.

This parking has two major consequences:

• Very often pedestrians, wheelchair users, parents with buggies etc have no room to pass and have to go into the road. Elderly people may also have difficulty stepping into the road. The danger this creates is obvious and it is very unfair on the pedestrian.
• Many pavements are in a very poor state of repair and pavement parking is a major cause. Damaged pavements are a significant drain on local council resources - both in repairs and in compensation to people who have tripped on broken paving. Since all council revenue is raised from tax payers these costs are met by us all.

It is also worth noting that many drains / sewers in Eynsham are unadopted by the water company and any repair cost falls on local residents. A few years ago, as a consequence of pavement parking at the Mill Street end of John Lopes Road, the sewers collapsed. This led to effluent coming up into the living rooms! The repair cost of £2000 had to be met by residents.

I understand it is against the law for HGVs to park on any pavement. It is also illegal for anyone to obstruct the footpath. Maybe just two wheels on the curb does not obstruct the footpath to any serious degree but it is also illegal to drive on the footpath. In order to have parked there the driver must have driven on to it.

What can we do about this?

• First, may I ask all car drivers to consider these points? There is no need to park on the pavement. You could also point out to any visitors you may have the problems that their actions cause. There is, after all, a large free car park in Back Lane.
• Second, could all local businesses ask their delivery drivers to park considerately? I'd hate to see bollards on every single pavement in Eynsham. Unfortunately this was the only solution to the problems in John Lopes Road but it has worked and maybe more are needed.
• Third, maybe all those who feel as I do could get together and form a campaign group. There is a nationwide organisation Living Streets – which campaigns on a national basis to make our streets safer.

Information and action:

• Join the Blog!
• Traffic Advisory Committee