Parking changes on the way

Parking changes on the way

Crawley Borough Council will take over the enforcement of parking regulations on the roads in Crawley and in the Town Hall and Orchard Street off-street car parks on April 12.

Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) is the implementation of on and off-street parking restrictions by civil enforcement officers.

CPE enables the income from Penalty Charge Notices to be used to fund the enforcement operation and it moves infringements of parking regulations from criminal law to civil law.

The officers are employed by Crawley Borough Council in conjunction with West Sussex County Council and their role incorporates the work currently carried out by traffic wardens.

Civil enforcement officers will enforce:

• All the existing parking restrictions on the road which are

currently enforced by traffic wardens

• Parking regulations in the two multi-storey pay and display car

parks operated by Crawley Borough Council

• The resident permit schemes in Controlled Parking Zones.

There are no new parking restrictions being introduced directly as a result of CPE.

Councillor Keith Blake, Cabinet member for Environmental Services, said:

“The introduction of CPE in Crawley will enable existing parking restrictions to be enforced more effectively. It also brings benefits in terms of road safety and improved parking for residents and businesses.

“The vast majority of people, who park sensibly, will not notice any change, except for less congestion on the streets.”

Motorists who contravene parking regulations and restrictions will be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN). This will set out details of the vehicle and contravention that has taken place, the amount that needs to be paid and the ways in which the penalty charge can be paid.

There are two levels of penalty charges depending on the seriousness of the offence. These are currently £70 for serious offences and £50 for less serious offences. These charges are reduced by 50 per cent if they are paid within 14 days. Charges will also increase by 50 per cent if they remain unpaid or uncontested after 28 days.

Ultimately unpaid debts may be recovered by bailiffs. Money from PCNs goes towards the costs of running the service. If there are any funds remaining after these costs have been met, the surplus is ringfenced by law to be spent on local transport projects.

For more information visit www.crawley.gov.uk/parking, call Parking Services at the Town Hall on 01293 438312 or 01293 438218 or email comments@crawley.gov.uk

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 at 09:42 and is filed under News Bulletins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.