The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “I”) will be presented to the Committee to consider the petition for the use of ‘Parking Buddies’ on the highway. 

Wilsden Parish Council purchased, in good faith, a form of traffic management (Parking Buddies) on advice provided by the Highways Department.  Subsequently was discovered that the use of Parking Buddies is contrary to Highway statutes and are unable to be used in the way intended.

Recommended -

1.    That the Committee resolves to request that the Council reimburses the Town Council for the cost of the Parking buddies and an alternative use of this resource is found (Option 1);

2.    That the Committee requests that the Traffic and Highways North office and the Road Safety Team work closely with Wilsden Parish Council and Wilsden Primary School to alleviate safety concerns in the vicinity of the school and beyond.

(Simon D’Vali -01274 434674)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “I”) was submitted to the Committee to consider the petition for use of ‘Parking Buddies’ on the highway.

‘Parking Buddies’ had been previously purchased following consultation with the Highways Department, Bradford City Council.  Subsequently, it was discovered that use of this type of resource on the highway constituted a breach of Highways statutes and could not be used in the way it had been intended.

The Highways Officer reiterated that the cost could be refunded and that the Highways team would work with the Parish Council and the school to address safety concerns.

Members were then given the opportunity to ask questions and make any comments, the details of which and the responses given are as below:

A Member asked where ‘Parking Buddies’ could be used and was advised by Officers that they were only permitted on private property.  They could also be attached to railings but could not be placed on the public footpath or highway.

A Member asked if these presented an obstruction on the highway, could they be strapped onto lampposts and not on the highway.  Officers advised that this possibility was being investigated and could be a ‘work-around’ and there was a sufficient budget to reimburse for the purchase if no solution was found.

A Member noted that the conflicting advice from the DfT was not helpful and similar resources had been used by Police and Fire Services in other areas.  The public would notice the removal of obstructions and not concentrating efforts to address bad parking and driving near to schools.

The Lead Petitioner attended the meeting and addressed the Committee and explained that use of this type of resource was allowed in other Local Authorities and provided details and images of deployed resources to demonstrate that there were situations similar to that in Wiilsden.  The school had already taken measures to address the problem including notices, signs and yellow lines.  A similar resource had been deployed elsewhere for 2 years and was deemed as effective.  For the short time that they had been permitted in Wilsden there was an improvement in parking habits which declined when the Parking Buddies were removed.

The evidence in the report and supporting documentation provided by the petitioner did appear to show some contradiction in guidance from DfT with no clear conclusion.

A discussion then took place between Members and the Highways Officer as these would be placed where parking was not permitted in any case.  They were in use elsewhere so why was it not ‘legal’ in Bradford.  The Highways Officer stated that he was of the view that they could not permit their use.  The legality and scheme of delegation to officers was also raised as Highways did not consider them to be legal.  Legal advice had already been sought by Highways and it was deemed to be the correct decision to prohibit their use.

Resolved –

That the decision be deferred so that legal advice can be sought around deployment of this type of resource within the District.

Action: Strategic Director, Place