Planner1
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New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
In this case, the monitoring of air quality is actually done by the council for the government. Buses are running around all day every day, as are trucks, taxis and vans. Their mileage is generally a lot higher than the average car. The CAZ is about nitrogen dioxide levels. It isn’t a greenhouse gas, so it’s not about climate change. It’s a dangerous pollutant that impacts on people’s health. There are legal limits for it and the government has been required by the courts to ensure compliance. Modern vehicles don’t emit much nitrogen dioxide compared to older ones. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
If you took the trouble to ask parking services, they could tell you exactly how many tickets are issued on Abbeydale Rd. It’s a primary transport route and they were certainly enforced on a daily basis, particularly at peak times when I was there. Send them an FOI request if you are really interested. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
The point is, that the council can only enforce where there is an actual parking restriction in place and even then, there are limits to the way in which they must enforce in order for the fine to be legitimate ( for example they have to give a 10 minute “grace” period for overstays on pay and display bays or, they have to wait a similar amount of time to check whether drivers who park on double or single yellow lines are loading/unloading where that is allowed.) Enforcement isn’t straightforward, there are many nuances that the average person probably doesn't know / understand. The CEO’s can’t just rock up and start handing out tickets. I mentioned “within the powers available to them” because many people seem to lack understanding on what the council’s civil enforcement officers (CEO’s) can do. At schools, they can and do enforce the actual school entrance markings ( they have a camera enforcement vehicle they use for this). Other than that, unless a driver is contravening an existing restriction like a double / single yellow line, there’s nothing they can do. They go out every day enforcing at schools but there are a large number of them, so they can only cover a few each day. Similarly, every day they have teams out patrolling the main transport routes in the city, but they can’t be everywhere. Drivers know this and push their luck. Obstructing pavements by parking fully or partly on them can only be enforced by the police. The council has no powers to enforce this, unless there is a restriction in place that covers the pavement ( double and single yellow lines apply to the whole of the highway including footway and verge). So what you and many others feel is inconsiderate parking cannot be enforced by the council unless the government rolls out the powers to do so outside London ( where parking on footways can be enforced by councils). The government are not keen to be seen as promoting “the war on motorists” as they clearly see it as a vote loser. Hence it has taken many years of lobbying by councils to get the powers to enforce box junctions and banned turns that London councils have had for many years. Similarly the government have talked about rolling out wider powers to enforce pavement parking for many years but have done nothing to action it. The council used to be able to enforce no waiting no loading restrictions with the camera vehicles. Many penalties used to be issued in places like Burngreave Rd and I used to get complaints that there was too much enforcement. The government stopped this and made councils enforce with CEO’s on foot, which is far less efficient. Local councils also have a political decision to make regarding to what extent they enforce. While I was at Sheffield we asked for more enforcement staff resource and were refused as councillors thought enforcement levels were about right and being seen as “draconian” was a potential vote loser. Efforts to introduce new permit parking zones have not been approved by councillors due to public opposition. Other councils in nearby towns give motorists greater leeway. One where I worked gave motorists double the legal amount of “grace” period. Another would not allow enforcement in the town centre on Sundays. Parking Services have limited resources, CEO’s work shifts and there aren’t that many of them on duty at any one time. The priorities for enforcement are agreed with councillors. These have generally included primary transport routes, city centre, permit zones, school entrances etc as you would expect. It’s a big city and they can’t be everywhere. Drivers know this and naturally push their luck. ”Marginal mistakes” as you put it at box junctions can have a significant impact on traffic flows and can have big impacts on buses. They are enforced by automatic cameras, so aren’t a drain on enforcement staff resources, therefore they have no impact on enforcement efforts elsewhere. If you want pavement parking enforcement, you need to tell your MP and the government. If you want more enforcement at local level, you need to tell your local councillors. But, be aware that there are equally vociferous people who don’t want more enforcement. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Do you actually think the council don’t enforce those locations already? ( within the powers available to them) -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
So, according to you there aren’t any exceedences of legal limits for nitrogen dioxide and the government weren’t instructed by the courts to fix them in the shortest possible time? -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Which part of councils not having the powers to enforce on pavement parking is it that you don’t understand? Councils can only enforce what the government lets them, as I’ve said numerous times. Also, as far as air quality goes, is the concept of “polluter pays” lost on you? Buses, trucks and taxis are the biggest polluters. Councils are only “pratting about” as you put it with CAZ’s because the government has made them do it. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Tell your government then. They’ve been talking about rolling out pavement parking powers to local authorities outside London for many years. No action yet though… -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
There are already red light cameras at several locations in Sheffield. They’ve been there for years. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) are the type of camera used for enforcing the restrictions I mentioned. The government does not allow councils to enforce parking on the highway by ANPR. They used to allow it on no wating / no loading restrictions, but withdrew it and made councils do it through CEO’s on foot, which is less efficient. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Many of the restrictions you might describe as “petty”, like banned turns and one ways, are actually there to improve capacity and traffic flows. It is now generally considered a good thing to keep through traffic out of city centres and making them more useable for people on foot or on cycles, many of the newer restrictions are aimed at achieving that. There are access loops to all areas of the city centre and convenient parking. It isn’t that difficult to get to where you want to be. It’s the same pretty much anywhere you go, it’s just modern city life. You can just as easily point to the rise of out of town shopping centres and online shopping for the lack of footfall in the city centre. Most places are aiming to have more people living in the city centres to make them more vibrant. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
That is not a contravention that can currently be enforced by camera. The government has to put in place the legal framework to enable camera enforcement. Currently it only covers: Bus Lanes / Gates CAZ’s School Entrance Markings Box Junctions No Entries Banned turns Nothing else. -
Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023
Planner1 replied to Chekhov's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Probably not, but you never know. -
Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023
Planner1 replied to Chekhov's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
We’ll have some indication when the fist year results are published -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
No, it doesn’t. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Not stopping within box junctions and obeying banned turns / no entries have been part of the rules of the road for many many years and can hardly be described as “draconian”. The police have always been able to enforce these restrictions. All that is happening now is that the offences can be enforced by councils, which means the police can concentrate on other things. It is not lawful to put in place restrictions and enforce them for the purpose of raising income. I have plenty of experience of this field in many locations and have never, ever seen restrictions enforced just to make money. It’s because motorists flout the rules and cause issues and danger for others. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
For bus gates / lanes, the enforcement is carried out at locations where bus operators have highlighted that abuse of the restriction is causing delays / issues for bus services. At many locations the restrictions are generally well observed so enforcement isn’t required. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
No, they are not. -
Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023
Planner1 replied to Chekhov's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
You can reduce train emissions by electrifying the network, but that won’t happen anytime soon. There were originally other locations in the city centre which weren’t compliant. If they become compliant and the station area isn’t and won’t be due to train emissions, you would hope that there might be a conversation with the government. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
They have an easy way of avoiding it, just stick to the rules….. -
New Traffic Enforcement Powers For The Council
Planner1 replied to SheffieldForum's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
When the council are going to enforce a location, they check it for legal compliance with regard to the legal orders, signs and roadmarkings. If anything isn’t in accordance with current standards it gets amended. The council keep a regularly updated file of photographic evidence of signing and lining at each enforcement site for use in any appeals against fines issued. Drivers who feel unfairly fined can appeal to an independent adjudicator. In my experience the adjudicators tend to err on the side of the motorist. Many appeals are successful, so it does pay to appeal if you feel you have grounds. -
Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023
Planner1 replied to Chekhov's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
Yes, that’s what I meant, as soon as they have satisfied the legal requirements, which means all sites in the zone have to be compliant for 2 years. You’d hope that if the only exceedance of the legal limits is at the rail station, there might be a conversation with the government to see if the CAZ can be removed, as the government are the only ones who can reduce / remove the emissions from the trains. -
Sheffield Congestion Charge From Feb 27th 2023
Planner1 replied to Chekhov's topic in Sheffield News & Discussions
The government made them implement the CAZ. As far as I can see, neither the government nor the council wanted to do it, they just had to following the court action. The council are being prudent and setting aside money to decommission the system when it’s not needed anymore. Other places that have CAZ’s are doing the same. But, you still criticise them. The council is run by politicians, who want to be re-elected. They will probably see it as a vote winner to decommission the CAZ as soon as they can. So, you might be pleasantly surprised. -
The information concerning the bus operator is commercially sensitive, hence the redaction. I’ve seen the similar documents from another area, which involved multiple operators. They also redact information concerning the operators, particularly how much money they receive from the grant and how much of their own money they are contributing.