Cardiff Council is reinvesting revenue generated by parking fines to increase the number of enforcement officers tackling problem parking in the city.
Since launching the civil parking enforcement scheme on 5th July 2010, the council issued 31,464 parking tickets and received £659,558 in fines during the first six months of operation. This revenue will remain within the parking and traffic control service area of the council. It will be reinvested in the recruitment of more civil parking enforcement officers (CEOs), maintenance and improvement of council owned car parks, and will also contribute to the council’s transportation related schemes.
The council took on the responsibility for parking in the city on 5th July 2010 with the principal aim of easing congestion and improving the safety and conditions for all road users and pedestrians. This includes the reduction of illegal parking in residents and disabled parking bays, reducing problem parking around schools, improved access for delivery vehicles, increasing the availability of short stay parking spaces outside local shops, and preventing potential delays for emergency vehicles.
This year the team of 35 on-street civil parking enforcement officers (CEOs) will be increased to 45. Civil parking enforcement teams work between 7am and 10pm, seven days a week, operating across the city. The additional officers will be instrumental in ensuring the issue of problem parking is addressed in every ward in Cardiff. Vehicles which are found to be parked illegally are issued with either a £70 or £50 fine, appropriate to the seriousness of the circumstances. If the fine is settled within 14 days, a 50% discount applies. If a fine is not paid or appealed within 56 days, it may be increased by 50%.
Executive Member for Transport, Cllr Delme Bowen, said: “This dynamic approach to problem parking brings many road safety benefits to residents and visitors to Cardiff as it addresses illegal parking on or near junctions, improves parking in local shopping areas and improves access for delivery vehicles. The scheme also supports other council initiatives in its protection of resident parking bays, disabled parking bays and city car club bays in the city centre.
“By keeping routes clear of illegally parked cars, we hope to free up our transport network make it safer and less congested which will help make our city easier to use for everyone.”
Cardiff Council Leader, Cllr Rodney Berman, said “I very much welcome the increase in the number of civil parking enforcement officers as this will enable us to enhance our service across the city, which will also help more residential areas where parking may be an issue. It was always our intention to look at increasing the numbers of enforcement officers in order to provide a more effective service once the new service was up and running. When the police had responsibility for traffic wardens, their number was cut over the years as funding was diverted to other priorities. I am delighted that we are now able to reverse this trend and will shortly deliver almost a 30% increase in the number of parking enforcement officers on our streets.”
