TRAFFIC and parking chaos could soon descend on Waverley's towns unless a deal is struck over parking enforcement. That was the stark warning of borough council officers this week as they urged councillors to agree to take on the responsibility for enforcing on-street parking regulations. However, this comes with the proviso that there are enough parking attendants to do the job. Parking enforcement is being decriminalised. It will no longer be the responsibility of the police to dish out tickets to motorists who do things like parking on double yellow lines or remaining in restricted parking areas for longer than allowed. Instead the government is handing the responsibility to local authorities and Surrey Council Council has been forced to take it on. Surrey has struck up agreements with the majority of the districts in other parts of the county to carry out the enforcement on its behalf, but Waverley has become a sticking point, with the borough council keen to ensure that it does not foot the bill. It instructed its officers to negotiate with the county council and bring back a suitable deal. On Tuesday, July 12, Waverley Borough Council's executive committee is due to hear the outcome of those negotiations and receive a recommendation to proceed. Councillors are due to hear that if Waverley does not agree to take on the role on behalf of the county council "there will be no on-street parking enforcement in the borough" causing parking chaos. "If Waverley does not manage on-street DPE (decriminalised parking enforcement) in the borough there is unlikely to be effective parking enforcement with the result of increasing obstructive and illegal parking and consequent traffic congestion and its impediment to public road transport services and pedestrian safety and convenience," the executive's report said. There is also an added sweetener encouraging the borough council to take on the role. In the report, officers said that without effective enforcement motorists will catch on that there will be few consequences of parking illegally and will abandon using the borough owned pay-and-display car parks - reducing the amount of cash in its coffers. In contrast, if there was effective enforcement then motorists would be forced to use the paid-for car parks instead of parking where they should not for free. "An effective on-street enforcement operation is expected to displace sufficient vehicles from on-street parking into Waverley's off-street car parks to increase car parks' income," the report said. In the past, the police had four traffic wardens to patrol Waverley but at present during the transitional period the police and the county council have an arrangement where two wardens are available for the borough on an ad hoc basis. As part of its proposals, Surrey County Council has put forward plans for two parking attendants to take over the job permanently as this is all it can afford. However, this has become a sticking point with Waverley which wants four people to patrol the borough. "SCC has predetermined the number of full- time equivalent parking attendants (PA) for the on-street enforcement operations as two PAs," the report said. It argues that this is the maximum that its financial resources will permit. "Waverley officers believe that this level of resource is wholly inadequate for an effective enforcement operation in the borough. "The geographical disposition of the four traffic population centres and the village centres, combined with the need to patrol over six days each week from 8 am to 6 pm, allowing for annual leave, sickness, training and travelling between the centres of enforcement need, makes the adequacy of this resource questionable. "There is an expectation from Surrey, which some districts have met, that additional PAs will, initially at least, be diverted from off- street car park activity to on-street enforcement. "SCC's argument is that an initial 'purge' on on-street parking violations will quickly result in compliance and that the additional off- street parking revenue arising from vehicles displaced from the streets will more than compensate for the diluted off-street enforcement. "That argument may have some merit where ample off-street capacity is available but is questionable where that is not the case, ie in Godalming where all car parks are generally operating to capacity." Waverley officers also argues that the employment of two extra PAs will be "self- financing" as the officers will collect enough extra fines to cover their costs. Officers are recommending to next week's executive that it should be supportive of the principle of taking on the job of on-street parking enforcement from Surrey as long as the issue over the number of PAs is resolved. Councillors were also expected to approve suggested on-street fines of £60, discounted to £30 if paid within 14 days. The final decision will fall to the full council which will receive the recommendations of the executive.
