Working together to solve problem parking

20 April, 2023 | Local action

We have had a recent success in a long-running problem with parking on Aberavon Road.

Residents, Tower Hamlets Parking Enforcement team and myself have worked together effectively to catch and fine a driver who has been parking illegally on the road.

Background

Residents reported to me some months ago that they had noticed that parking was becoming more and more difficult on Aberavon Road. This was particularly frustrating for disabled residents who need to park near their front doors to unload shopping and access their homes easily.

The Aspire administration recently relaxed parking restrictions to allow all permit holders in a certain zone to park anywhere in that zone. This has essentially led to Aberavon Road becoming the the so-called ‘Mile End park-and-ride’.

An additional problem is that a minority of drivers were using illegal methods to park on Aberavon Road. For example, some used trade number plates designed for car dealers. Some switched their number plates very often, and used plates that were not registered to their car.

What did I do?

After several rounds of reporting issues to the Parking Enforcement team as they were reported to me by residents, I decided we needed to change tactics. I coordinated with the head of the Parking Enforcement team to communicate the most effective reporting strategies through to residents.

This resulted in some fantastic partnership working in which residents were able to report directly to the parking enforcement team who were on alert and waiting for reports from residents.

Did the plans work?

Just days after our new strategy was in place, we had a win! A particularly problematic car was successfully towed by the Parking Enforcement team after it was reported by residents and then found to be in breach of parking restrictions by the enforcement team.

Do you know of a similar situation?

If you have something similar happening on your street, please get in touch with me and I will work with you and the Parking Enforcement team to try and resolve the problems.

 


Category: Local action