All councils must introduce plans for local pavement parking ban
All local authorities must follow in Edinburgh’s footsteps and put in place enforcement plans to end the scourge of pavement parking, say the Scottish Greens.
The Scottish government passed a law in 2019 to give local authorities the power to stop pavement parking, with powers coming into effect in December 2023.
Edinburgh City Council is the first to enforce the powers, with drivers who park on footways facing a £100 fine from today, with no exemptions apart from for emergency services vehicles.
The Scottish Greens’ local government spokesperson, Ariane Burgess MSP, has welcomed Edinburgh’s move, saying: “Our footways and pavements should never be parking spaces. Pavement parking is selfish and unnecessary. It blocks our streets for people with buggies or mobility issues and forces vulnerable people to go on to roads.
“This is an important step by Edinburgh City Council, and one that I hope is quickly replicated across Scotland. We can’t have a postcode lottery where we have safer streets in some communities but not others.
“All local authorities have known this was coming, and they all have a responsibility to ensure that our streets and communities are safer for everyone. I hope that we can see an end to dangerous parking across Scotland as soon as possible.”