The council’s implementation of the pavement parking ban and the initial decision not to exclude more local streets from the purview of the new prohibition has naturally caused considerable frustration amongst many people in Eastwood.
The local authority approved the implementation of the ban in December with a soft launch taking place from early January until the beginning of April when fines could then be issued to any motorist, who parks on a pavement in an area, where no exemption has been agreed.
In December, the council only agreed to promote a small number of exemptions.
Given the serious concerns of local residents, I made representation to East Renfrewshire Council to call on the local authority to seriously review the exclusion list and seek to remove a far higher number of areas in Eastwood from the enforcement of the ban.
In my representation, I highlighted every local area where constituents have contacted me by e-mail to raise concerns and this includes streets in Stamperland, the wider Clarkston area, Busby, Giffnock, Newton Mearns and Eaglesham.
Whilst this list is lengthy, I also stressed to the council that it is not exhaustive of all the areas in which residents will be concerned and a very thorough examination is now required to determine whether the exemption criteria can be applied to a much larger number of streets.
Stamperland is one part of Eastwood where I am strongly of the view that widespread exemptions must be agreed.
In the same manner as other parts of the constituency, the construction of the housing and local roads infrastructure in the area predates mass car ownership.
As such, a ban on pavement parking in many parts of Stamperland would be fraught with significant difficulty and make it near impossible for emergency service vehicles such as ambulances and fire engines to pass.
In response to my representation, the council confirmed that a large number of streets were now subject to review including those raised within my e-mail and that all areas, in which the pavement parking ban has been highlighted as a problem, would be looked at again.
The local authority also stressed that Stamperland would be reviewed, as a matter of priority.
Considering that the roads infrastructure in many parts of Stamperland is entirely unsuited to a ban on pavement parking, I was very pleased to see the Barrhead News break the story last week that the council would now seek to promote exemptions for 12 streets in the local area.
The streets include Alyth Crescent, Monteith Drive, Monteith Gardens, Moray Drive, Moray Gardens, Nethervale Avenue, Randolph Drive, Stamperland Drive, Stamperland Gardens, Stamperland Hill, The Oval and The Quadrant.
From information published on the council’s website, it appears that both sides of the pavement on Moray Gardens, Monteith Drive, The Oval and Randolph Drive will be exempt.
For the other streets, I understand that the council is seeking to exclude one side of the pavement from the ban.
The planned exclusions in Stamperland will be included in a Traffic Regulation Order, which is subject to a public consultation and it is vital that the end result of this formal process is the enactment of the proposed exemptions in each of the 12 streets.
The council has also said that it is continuing to review streets across the local authority to determine if more areas should be exempt.
The news on Stamperland is welcome and I urge the local authority to also propose exemptions for more streets in different parts of Eastwood.
