Yes for Wales - the story from Aberystwyth

Cliciwch yma am dolen i'r fideo You Tube am yr Ymgyrch Ie Dros Gymru yn Aberystwyth. Diolch i Trystan Morris-Davies a Glyn Langham am y ffilmio 

Click here for a link to the You Tube video about the Yes for Wales campaign in Aberystwyth. Thanks to Trystan Morris-Davies and Glyn Langham for the filming.

Civil Parking Enforcement moves a step nearer in Ceredigion

Civil Parking Enforcement moved a step nearer in Ceredigion today after the Council’s Highways Scrutiny Committee voted unanimously to recommend the measure to the Council’s Cabinet after viewing detailed costings. I was particularly pleased to be able to propose the motion since I’ve been banging on about this issue ever since I became a councillor.

The Cabinet is expected to discuss the issue in March. An agreement then would be likely to see Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) coming into force around June 2012. That, in turn could see a Residents’ Parking Scheme, the holy grail for many residents in Aberystwyth, being introduced a year later, in 2013.

The issue was brought to a head at the beginning of this month when the police announced their intention to abandon their traffic warden service from the end of May in frustration at the Council’s lack of action (see post below).

Todays’ committee meeting heard that ten out of 22 Welsh authorities have already adopted CPE, with Pembrokeshire going live 17 days ago and Powys due to start on April 1st. Of those remaining, six Councils are now working towards it with only those in Gwent still holding back.

Under CPE, the money re-couped from parking fees has to be ring-fenced to be spent on traffic management within the Council's area instead of going into the UK Treasury as street parking fines do now. 

Street parking enforcement set to break down in Ceredigion

Street parking enforcement is set to break down in Ceredigion after Dyfed-Powys Police announced their intention to withdraw their traffic warden service from the end of May.

The move follows years of frustration in which both the police and Plaid Cymru councillors have repeatedly asked the Council Cabinet to take over parking enforcement from the police, known as Civil Parking Enforcement. The great benefit of this is that money from parking fines would go back to the Council and can be re-used for improving local transport services whereas the current fines from parking tickets simply go straight into the UK Treasury.

The sense of such a move was highlighted recently when the Council's own Finance Department pinpointed taking on parking enforcement as a way for the Council to save money and avoid additional cuts. Civil Parking Enforcement is also a pre-requisite for Residents' Parking schemes, something constantly requested by local residents within Aberystwyth

The reasons for the Council Cabinet's stubborn refusal to act have never been made entirely clear and they have become increasingly isolated as other Councils all around them have taken on the role.

At a meeting yesterday, when councillors were first told of the situation, I asked how long it would take for the Council to take on the Civil Parking Enforcement role, now that it looks as if they will have no alternative. I was told that, if the Council Cabinet agree to this in March (a big 'if'), the practical and legal issues will take at least a year to work through. The period between the and of May and that taking place could be very interesting.

A statement today by Dyfed-Powys Police said,

“In relation to enforcement during the transition, officers will respond to calls from the public to deal with parking problems in Ceredigion and will assist with pre-planned events. This will not be the service currently provided by the wardens and any calls relating to parking will have to balanced with other operational demands”.