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Cornwall Consult on Guidelines for Parking Operation

In August 2006 the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary informed Cornwall Council that from the 1st of April 2008 they would cease to carry out regular traffic management and would no longer employ traffic wardens. This would mean that there would be no enforcement of waiting restrictions anywhere in the County which would have an adverse impact on congestion and air quality; road safety and economic regeneration.


In order to have on street enforcement the County Council has to apply for to the DfT (Department for Transport) for Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) powers. If the application is successful the responsibility for enforcing on street parking will be in the hands of the County Council from 5 May 2008. On 14 November 2007 this application was approved by the Executive for submission to the DfT.



Until the powers are granted to the County responsibility for enforcement remains with the police. It should also be noted that other offences, such as obstruction and moving offences, remain the responsibility of the police beyond May 2008.



Uniformed officers representing the Local Authorities will patrol the streets and issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) to motorists that contravene the waiting restrictions. The information about the PCN is transferred to the processing centre. If the motorist pays within 14 days the PCN is reduced by 50%. The motorist can either pay the PCN or make a representation. If the motorist does not pay and/or his representation is not upheld he will be sent a further document that tells him he has to pay. He can appeal against this. If that is not successful and he does not accept the PCN he can then appeal to independent adjudicators.



Cornwall County Councils Executive Member for Strategic Planning and Transport Matt McTaggart [Lib Dem] said “Civil Parking Enforcement is not an opportunity to raise revenue. In the mid range scenario it is estimated that a small surplus may be made in the first year but, in subsequent years a loss is made as costs increase. Revenue from the PCNs issued is used to fund the enforcement operation and the processing costs with the aim of breaking even. Should a surplus be made it has to be used to forward the aims of the Local Transport Plan.”



The County has consulted all the District Councils and they have decided as follows: Penwith, Kerrier, Caradon and North Cornwall will continue to enforce their car parks under the current legislation. Carrick and Restormel decided to join the County and carry out enforcement under the new legislation.



Joyce Mepsted, Chair of the Environment Policy, Development and Scrutiny Committee tasked with looking into Civil Parking Enforcement said “The County, Carrick and Restormel have been working hard together to develop a system of enforcement for Cornwall. I am confident the application we have developed is robust and will hopefully be approved by the Secretary for State for Transport. Meanwhile we will consult the public on the details of the proposed enforcement operation.”



The County will carry out on street enforcement in Penwith, Kerrier, Caradon and North Cornwall. Restormel will carry out enforcement on street and in their car parks within Restormel and will process all the PCNs that they issue. Carrick will carry out enforcement on street and in their car parks in Carrick and will process the PCNs that they issue, plus those that are issued by the County.



Councillors Les Donnithorne, Carrick District Council Local Economy Portfolio holder and Shirley Polmounter, Restormel Borough Council Member of Cabinet for Community Affairs said “We have been working closely with Cornwall County Council to deliver the application and look forward to continuing to build on the close partnership we have already developed.”



The County and the two Districts will provide a service that is much more consistent and more evenly spread than that provided by the police at the current time.



One of the major differences will be that the current traffic wardens are allowed a certain amount of discretion when deciding to carry out enforcement whereas the new Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) will be working within a set of stringent guidelines.



More discretion will be allowed by the processing staff who will consider representations against PCNs taking into account the evidence provided by the motorist as well as the guidance provided.



These guidelines for CEOs and the processing staff are outlined in the operational procedures that have been developed in conjunction with Carrick and Restormel. In essence they provide the day to day regulation for the running of the CPE operation and, as such, will be a crucial document for the service.



The procedures are being put before the Environment Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee on 28 November 2007 for consideration prior to public consultation.



It is the intention that this document will be a ‘living’ document and will be constantly reviewed and updated in light of the experiences gained whilst operating CPE. The County is therefore keen to receive comments from the public prior to implementation. The document will be available to the public via the Cornwall County Council web site at www.cornwall.gov.uk/parking <http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/parking> (paper copies will be available on request). Comments need to be received by 9 January 2008, they will then be discussed with a panel of members before the document is finalised.



The parking web pages will provide other information about parking, will provide links to help people pay PCNs once the service is up and running and will also have a web forum where people can make comments and ask questions.