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Ban pavement parking in England

The beginning of the end for pavement parking in england?

In November 2020, an amazing 7,455 people supported our campaign and contributed to the government's pavement parking consultation.

That was over a year ago. Living Streets and our allies are calling on the government to get the wheels moving again.

Pavement parking

#ReclaimOurPavements

Living Streets has teamed up with allies across not just the active travel but also the wider transport sectors to encourage the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, to implement a London-style ban across the whole of England.

How can you help today?

We've written to DfT, you can let your MP know how they can help.

An effective way to do this is to tweet to them, so we have built an online form to enable you to do this quick and easily.

 

Tweet to your MP

Twitter

Tweet to your MP using our online form

Dear Secretary of State

We were pleased to support the government’s consultation in November 2020 on managing pavement parking. The problem of pavement parking is a longstanding issue and action is now long overdue. 

We now have an opportunity to make progress on this problem - doing nothing is not an option. More than a year on from the close of the consultation, we urge you to move forward with introduction of legislation to introduce a London-style pavement parking prohibition throughout England, as in Scotland. Only a default prohibition, with appropriate exemptions, like in London, will send the signal that pavement parking is unacceptable. 

Vehicles parking on the pavement causing an obstruction and damaging footway surfaces is an urgent problem and discriminates against pedestrians, especially for those with young children, older people and those with visual or mobility impairments, and is an issue that has attracted attention for over forty years. It will be more difficult for the Government to meet its own targets of half of all journeys walked and cycled by 2030 when pavement parking makes walking so hard for so many.

Every day, parents and children are putting themselves at risk because of pavement parking. New polling commissioned by Living Streets indicates that 87% of parents have had to walk into the road because of pavement parking and that 80% would be more likely to walk their child to school if there wasn’t pavement parking.

Scotland has led the way with the introduction of legislation in 2019 for a nationwide prohibition on pavement parking, and the Welsh Government also plans to regulate pavement parking, by decriminalising the offence of causing unnecessary obstruction of the footway and carriageway.

Change in England is long overdue, and your department has moved forward positively by consulting on this issue. We urge you now to join with other nations of the UK in making our pavements safer and fit for purpose for all road users.

Yours sincerely

  • Stephen Edwards, Chief Executive, Living Streets
  • Steve Garidis, Executive Officer, Bicycle Association
  • Brian Facer, Chief Executive, British Cycling
  • Sarah Mitchell, Chief Executive, Cycling UK
  • Xavier Brice, Chief Executive, Sustrans
  • Tompion Platt, Director of Operations and Advocacy, Ramblers
  • Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner, South Yorkshire MCA
  • Simon O'Brien, Liverpool City Region Cycling & Walking Commissioner
  • Andrew Pester, Chief Executive, British Parking Association
  • Tom Wright CBE, Chief Executive, Guide Dogs
  • Cllr. James Jamieson, Chairman, Local Government Association
  • Katie Pennick, Campaigns Lead, Transport for All

Download our letter (PDF)

Are you or your MP not on Twitter?

You can still help by sharing this page with your networks.

It's been 18 months since our Pavement Parking day of action

With the Department for Transport's 22 November deadline looming, we decided to make a lot of noise on social media.

We invited people to share their views on pavement parking where they live - and posted myth-busting responses to some of the frequently asked questions we have encountered over the years.

Here's just a handful of the tweets that helped see #BanPavementParking trend on Wednesday, 18 November.

The consultation was won thanks in no small part to the 4,010 Living Streets supporters who sent us their thoughts on pavement parking in spring 2019

Then. the following June, our Policy and Research Manager, Dr Rachel Lee, went before the Transport Select Committee to give oral evidence on the impact on pedestrians of pavement parking.

In her evidence she included several of the thousands of personal testimonies we received from our supporters - the power of which was noted by members of the committee afterwards.

You can watch the session in full in our video here.

Read Rachel's blog post for the full story

DOWNLOAD OUR POSTERS AND PUT THEM IN YOUR FRONT WINDOW OR IN LOCAL COMMUNITY CENTRES.

Remember you should never put literature on car windscreens.

In Scotland?

 

We did it! Scotland has voted to introduce a nationwide ban on pavement parking.

Find out more about our successful campaign in Scotland.

 

Ban pavement parking in Scotland

In Wales?

 

Welsh Government is investigating ways to clamp down on pavement parking in Wales. And Living Streets is on the task force.

Find out about progress in Wales.

 

Ban pavement parking in Wales

Local action

 

Pavement parking. Street clutter. Electric car charging points.

We have created an action pack on each of these issues so you can get your local decision-makers on the case and raise awareness in your area.

 

Pavements for People

What's the problem?

  1. Why is it a problem
  2. Who is responsible for enforcing pavement parking bans?
  3. Is the government going to change the legislation on pavement parking?

  • Pavement parking is a pain for everyone, but it’s particularly an issue for those with mobility problems, parents with pushchairs and older people, who may fear leaving their homes as they feel unsafe. As well as making it difficult for people to use their streets, it can also cause substantial damage to pavements. This costs councils tens of thousands of pounds each year to repair. 

  • In most areas your local council or civil enforcement officers contracted on their behalf are responsible for enforcing pavement parking bans. 

  • In London, pavement parking is prohibited unless it says it is allowed. The government does not support changing the law to bring the rest of England, and Wales, in line with London

    However, Simon Hoare MP has tabled a second Private Members’ Bill to Parliament to extend a ban across England and Wales unless specifically exempted.