Parking In Burngreave.

[dutch]

Just now, HeHasRisen said:

Indeed, so we agree! Why are you arguing with me ffs.

Your a right laugh. See you next time.

[cgksheff]

2 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

How much would people like adding onto their council tax bills to ensure every street in the city had full 24/7 coverage to enforce parking transgressions?

It doesn't have to be 24/7/

Managed properly, it is a self-financing function.

 

Edited February 17, 2022 by cgksheff

[Planner1]

2 hours ago, cgksheff said:

It doesn't have to be 24/7/

Managed properly, it is a self-financing function.

 

It is self financing. They make a healthy surplus, which is put towards the cost of the Amey highway maintenance contract.

3 hours ago, HeHasRisen said:

I dont blame them tbh. Would you willingfully face constant abuse and threats of physical violence in your job given the choice?

It’s not just threats, some are assaulted.

[Planner1]

23 hours ago, ab6262 said:

thats BS for a start, dont see much double parking or cars stopping for no reason in the middle of the road  to chat to an on coming driver, laws are much more vigorously enforced in non ethnic areas fact!! you see plenty of traffic wardens up at meadowhead, woodseats, greenhill ecclesall road etc never seen one on snig hill or gower st area or wolsey road, have a look on fridays to really get a feel for unlawful parking.

 

It is untrue to suggest that there is any less enforcement in certain areas. If you really want to know, just ask the council how often they patrol these areas and how many tickets have been issued. They will tell you.

 

The council have limited resources for enforcement and they have agreed priorities for using that resource. 
 

The city centre is always enforced as that’s where there is most activity. Primary routes and main bus routes are enforced, particularly at peak times. School entrances are enforced regularly.

 

Permit parking areas are regularly enforced too, as that’s part of the deal when local people agree to have permit zones.

 

Sometimes, people don’t understand the way restrictions operate or the way in which the council is legally obliged to enforce. This can lead to them thinking that parking contraventions are taking place, when in fact they are not.

 

Wolesey Road is a case in point. Many people see the single yellow line and think it’s an on any working day restriction, it isn’t. The restriction is only at peak hours. Folk see cars parked on the single yellow and think they are parked in contravention when in fact they are parked legitimately. When I was at the council I used to receive complaints about this regularly. Parking Services could also evidence that it was patrolled regularly and tickets where issued to vehicles that were actually in contravention.

 

Similarly I used to field complaints from locals in the Burngreave Rd area about how many tickets they were getting ( which were perfectly legitimately issued by the way). 
 

The accusation that ethnic areas aren’t enforced simply does not hold up to any scrutiny.
 

Civil Enforcement Officers suffer abuse and assault. It is absolutely right that their employers do risk assessments on the areas they enforce in and tailor their enforcement practices to ensure the safety of their staff as much as possible. 
 

Enforcement is a difficult job and it’s not helped by the government restricting the tools at Councils disposal, for example by stopping them using cameras for normal parking enforcement and insisting it’s done by CEO’s on foot.

 

[cgksheff]

That is a comprehensive post, Planner 1, which deals with many of the points people have raised and I thank you.

How do we reconcile the suggestion that there are limited resources for enforcement with the statement that it is self-financing?

Edited February 17, 2022 by cgksheff

[Planner1]

2 hours ago, cgksheff said:

That is a comprehensive post, Planner 1, which deals with many of the points people have raised and I thank you.

How do we reconcile the suggestion that there are limited resources for enforcement with the statement that it is self-financing?

Both statements are true, but as with everything there is a balance to be struck.

 

The council is a political organisation. The elected councillors are the decision makers. They will not want to have a large, heavy handed enforcement regime which can be seen as being too draconian and might end up losing them votes.

 

Although the parking service is self financing and returns a surplus, it is operating in a local government environment that is dominated by cuts in services and personnel, so they would find it difficult to get approval for more and more staff when everyone else in the organisation is cutting theirs. Much more likely they get told to improve their efficiency and make the most of what they have. Quite a bit of that has happened in parking services.
 

You have to remember that surplus parking income can only be spent on a limited number of things, like highway maintenance, so even if they could bring in more income, it can’t lawfully be spent on things like social care etc. It’s also not lawful to introduce new restrictions or enforcement measures with the aim of increasing income, it has to be for sound traffic management reasons.

 

Theres also the fact that there will be a tipping point, where if an enforcement regime was very effective and deterred most contraventions, income would fall.

[Findlay]

11 hours ago, Planner1 said:

Theres also the fact that there will be a tipping point, where if an enforcement regime was very effective and deterred most contraventions, income would fall.

That's never going to happen. That is like saying if people locked their doors, they would no longer be burgled. Drivers are selfish and daft so will always push the boundaries to please themselves. 

I would welcome a fleet of these vehicles and would pay £100 into a bucket fund to help purchase them. https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/3603575/how-your-illegally-parked-car-can-be-removed-in-less-than-a-minute/

Personal possessions, like cars have no right parking on public paths, junctions and highways where they cause an inconvenience or danger to the general public.

Every postcode number S1, S2 etc could have its own impound for vehicles to be collected upon payment.

Like you say the council is all about politics, not actually running a city.

Edited February 18, 2022 by Findlay

[Planner1]

10 hours ago, Findlay said:

I would welcome a fleet of these vehicles and would pay £100 into a bucket fund to help purchase them. https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/3603575/how-your-illegally-parked-car-can-be-removed-in-less-than-a-minute/

Personal possessions, like cars have no right parking on public paths, junctions and highways where they cause an inconvenience or danger to the general public.

Every postcode number S1, S2 etc could have its own impound for vehicles to be collected upon payment.

Like you say the council is all about politics, not actually running a city.

Towing vehicles is an emotive issue and isn’t common outside London ( where traffic problems are worse and parking fines are much higher) 

 

The Council can and do tow vehicles. They did a fair bit of it during Amey’s main resurfacing works. 
 

The Council use a towing contractor who does have vehicles like that one. I’ve seen it demonstrated at their Sheffield depot.

 

The problems the Council have is that firstly, towing is not popular with drivers, it’s viewed as much harsher and draconian than just issuing a ticket.
 

Secondly, because towing isn’t routinely done here, there aren’t enough “customers” to justify the Council buying their own tow trucks and having them on standby. It is too costly. So, they have to rely on contractors and that is not cheap either. It actually costs the Council more to tow the vehicle than they can get from the maximum penalty and tow charges set by law.

 

Irrespective of what you may think, some of the “offences” you mention are not in themselves unlawful.  Parking on the footway is not an offence unless a person or persons are directly obstructed. Only then would the police enforce it ( the council cant enforce obstruction).

 

The Council could, if it wished, introduce traffic regulation orders and ban pavement parking in specified areas or the whole of the city. They did adopt a parking strategy a few years back that said they would do so in the city centre. Hasn’t happened yet. The government have talked about pavement parking bans too and it hasn’t happened.

[dutch]

Wow lots of talking little action. Big words say nothing it will just stay the same.

[HeHasRisen]

9 minutes ago, dutch said:

Wow lots of talking little action. Big words say nothing it will just stay the same.

Helpful post there.

 

What do you actually suggest? People to go up to Burngreave with armed police to enforce people parking on yellow lines? 🤣