Two other options being considered are extending the existing London wide ban on pavement parking across the country and improving the current system of Traffic Regulation Orders. Comments on the three proposals are invited before 22 November.

London Assembly Green Party member Caroline Russell said it is never acceptable to use pedestrian space to leave a vehicle. “People despair about pavement parking, and that is true even in London where highway authorities have control both to stop and permit it.”

She also claimed that one west London council has recently painted parking bays that cover one half of narrow footways which have “effectively barricaded residents in their homes” and left the pavement unusable for anyone on foot, using a white cane or wheelchair or pushing a pram.

Walking group The Ramblers welcomed the consultation on pavement parking and called for the practice to be prohibited. “Pavement parking is dangerous and puts walkers at risk,” said senior policy and advocacy officer Kate Conto, who added that a ban would “create safer and more accessible streets that encourage everyone to walk more, boosting the nation’s green recovery from Covid-19”.

Motoring group the RAC’s head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes acknowledged that blocking pavements with vehicles “can cause vulnerable pedestrians at best a real inconvenience and at worst puts them at risk”. He added there is clearly a case for giving councils additional powers to take action against drivers that block pavement access. But a national ban, he added, is likely to be impractical.

“There are instances, particularly on Britain’s many narrow residential streets, where drivers believe they are doing the right thing by putting a wheel or two on the kerb which allows sufficient space on both the pavement for pedestrians and on the road for other vehicles.

“Better guidance and a definition of what is and isn’t appropriate would be a more practical solution, rather than an outright ban.”

Since 1974 parking on the footway has, with certain exceptions, been banned in Greater London. A national prohibition was enacted in Scotland last November but has yet to come into force. In England, parking on pavements and verges is currently permitted unless specifically prohibited by a local authority.

According to the Department for Transport, 57 out of 68 local authorities who responded to a recent survey reported that pavement parking was a widespread problem in their area. It said that vulnerable pedestrians are most at risk, especially people with visual impairments; those who use mobility aids including guide dogs, wheelchairs and mobility scooters; young children and people with prams and pushchairs.

It also reported that one authority estimated that up to 20% of its pavement repair budget was spent repairing footway damaged due to parked vehicles.

Twelve months ago the Transport Select Committee published an inquiry into pavement parking and called for it to be outlawed. Committee chair Huw Merriman welcomed the Government’s ask of the public whether there should be a change in the existing parking legislation. “Parking on pavements affects everyone who uses them but it presents very real difficulties for wheelchair users, visually impaired people and parents,” Huw said.
“If the Department for Transport wants us to choose active travel such as walking, it’s essential pavements are accessible to all.”

(Photograph: Living Streets)