{"id":15466,"date":"2024-10-28T10:19:41","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T10:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/drivers-of-parked-cars-blocking-roads-may-face-prosecution\/"},"modified":"2024-10-28T10:19:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T10:19:41","slug":"drivers-of-parked-cars-blocking-roads-may-face-prosecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/drivers-of-parked-cars-blocking-roads-may-face-prosecution\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers of parked cars blocking roads may face prosecution"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Drivers in south and east Belfast could face fines and possible prosecution for bad parking under a pilot scheme from Belfast City Council.<\/p>\n

Poorly parked cars are blocking streets across the city and causing access issues for residents, bin lorries, disabled access, and emergency services, according to the council.<\/p>\n

One resident who uses a wheelchair says “enforcement powers” are needed.<\/p>\n

Johnny Harvey lives in east Belfast and says he avoids certain roads due to cars obstructing a kerb or a drop kerb, which he says “really influences the routes”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Johnny<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Johnny Harvey has had to take an alternative route because cars have blocked the pavements<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

He told BBC News NI that he has had to change, and sometimes avoid, routes he would normally take due to cars blocking the route. <\/p>\n

Belfast City Council is working with the PSNI and the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) for the \u2018Park with us in Mind\u2019 scheme.<\/p>\n

The pilot will run for 18 months and adopt a phased approach to tackle parking problems.<\/p>\n

Cars causing an obstruction will initially receive a pamphlet on their windscreen outlining the importance of parking correctly.<\/p>\n

Educational outreach activities will also be taken by the council, PSNI, and DfI in the areas involved, and if the problems persist, enforcement may be used.<\/p>\n

BBC News NI understands no other council in Northern Ireland is operating a similar scheme at the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think education is one of the first pillars that we really need. I don\u2019t think enforcement powers should be the last resort; I think this is needed,” said Mr Harvey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Ruth<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ruth Brooks says inconsiderate parking is one of the bigger issues for bin collections<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

DUP Councillor Ruth Brooks says a letter has been sent to residents on some of the worst affected streets informing them of the scheme and reminding them to park “considerately”. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it isn\u2019t resolved, then we will be looking for the Department for Infrastructure and PSNI to do their part and take action,” she says.<\/p>\n

She told BBC News NI that some narrower streets that would have traditionally had one or two cars, can now have multiple cars per household.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result residents can\u2019t always park at the front of their homes and it is causing issues – commuters are also coming into residential streets because that\u2019s where they can get a bus route in \u2013 these things have a knock on impact.”<\/p>\n

Brooks says residents are also getting annoyed whenever their bins are regularly missed. <\/p>\n

\u201cInconsiderate car parking is one of the bigger issues that is causing bin lorries not get into streets,” she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil don\u2019t have any enforcement powers \u2013 they can\u2019t enforce residents to park their cars correctly.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Catherine<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Catherine Coffey believes an educational programme is important before fines<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

Catherine Coffey lives in one of the east Belfast areas that will be included in the scheme, and she feels people could park more considerately.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn small streets, I do feel people could try a little harder to make sure bin lorries can get past and people can get past on the pavement.”<\/p>\n

Ms Coffey believes fines are fair, as long as there is “an educational programme first”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a period where it was nearly every week one of the bins wouldn\u2019t get picked up \u2013 particularly with the food bins that can become really unpleasant,” she adds. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"Craig<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Craig McConnell says fines are fair for inconsiderate parking<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

\u201cI have seen some bad incidents of parking on these streets, particularly when there is maybe an event on\u2014it really does get pretty crowded at times,” said resident Craig McConnell.<\/p>\n

He agrees fines are fair, but says access for homeowners is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think fines down the line\u2014that\u2019s fair within reason\u2014but I think people also need to be able to park their car close within the house\u2014people with kids\u2014or someone who is elderly or a bit less mobile.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"A<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

People who own parked cars causing obstruction could end up in court<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
\n

In a statement, the PSNI says it welcomes the new scheme and will provide support when possible.<\/p>\n

It says any vehicles parked illegally or causing obstruction to local residents, emergency vehicles, and traffic will be handed a fixed penalty, and\/or penalty points may be given to the driver of the vehicle or the owner of the vehicle could be taken to court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BBC Drivers in south and east Belfast could face fines and possible prosecution for bad parking under a pilot scheme from Belfast City Council. Poorly parked cars are blocking streets across the city and causing access issues for residents, bin lorries, disabled access, and emergency services, according to the council. One resident who uses a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[5476,1880,1768,157,6423,6424,6067],"class_list":["post-15466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-n-ireland","tag-blocking","tag-cars","tag-drivers","tag-face","tag-parked","tag-prosecution","tag-roads"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15468,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15466\/revisions\/15468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.godj.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}