People living on housing estates in Brighton are having their lives blighted by illegal parking and blocked pavements.
Tenant and leaseholder reps from the Bates Estate, Coldean, North Moulsecoomb and Hollingdean urged Brighton and Hove City Council to take action.
They called for better enforcement at a meeting of a council housing management panel yesterday (Tuesday 10 June).
And they asked for Labour councillor Trevor Muten, the cabinet member for transport and parking, to come to their next meeting.
In Hollingdean, one of the few areas of Brighton and Hove with no resident parking restrictions, ambulances have struggled to reach patients because of cars parked illegally on double yellow lines.
Hollingdean Residents’ Association secretary Ian Beck said: “There is no enforcement whatsoever in Hollingdean at the moment. I’ve reported at least a dozen times the five or six streets off Horton Road which at night time it’s impossible to get into them.
“With the aid of the council, we got double yellow lines put around each of these closes.
“But an ambulance tried to get into my street a few days ago for an emergency with a 92-year-old woman but the ambulance could not get in because a van was parked on the double yellow lines.
“After 8pm, no one seems to enforce these at all. Why are we still having to go through this again?”
The meeting was told that vehicles blocking Southmount, off Davey Drive, also delayed an ambulance – and it took 25 minutes to leave the road due to parked cars.
Earlier this year, two separate parking consultations were carried out for north and south Hollingdean to establish whether residents wanted a resident parking scheme.
The results have not yet been published but the council said that the indications were that people living south of Hollingbury Place, also known as The Dip, were in favour.
People living on the Bates Estate and in North Moulsecoomb and Coldean had issues with cars parked across dropped kerbs, restricting access for people in wheelchairs and parents with children in pushchairs.
Parking restrictions applied on the estates closest to the Amex stadium on Brighton and Hove Albion match days but parking issues were described as “massively increasing” on those days across the area.
Yet, on football match days, almost a quarter of the parking enforcement team were deployed in Coldean and Moulsecoomb.
Since last September, Coldean, which is zone B, had received 528 visits, lasting for 137 patrol hours, resulting in 450 penalty charge notices (PCNs) being issued.
In the same period, Moulsecoomb – a larger area – received 528 visits, lasting for 223 patrol hours, with 715 PCNs being issued.
Twelve of the parking tickets on the north Brighton estates were issued because vehicles were blocking a dropped kerb.
Residents were asked to share dates and locations if they believed that there was no enforcement so that the council’s parking team could check whether an area had been overlooked.
The meeting was told that the enforcement officers carried handheld devices which tracked them using global positioning system (GPS) data.
Surely the time has come to enforce properly against pavement problem
Hi Steven, Totally agree.
I agree, my understanding is that to do this, we need a local law that makes pavement parking unlawful, like London has. It’s a lengthy process from when I looked at it, but I think there is definite benefit to it.
We did it on Elm Grove last year. Took ages and the Council made a huge song and dance about making a change.
With the size of that Bush that takes up Pavement space to the Public, no wonder Drivers have parked there like that-can just about walk down it, or push a Buggy.
There’s no gate are there to get into someone’s House and right now it isn’t Double Yellow lines, so I reckon all free to park there right now.
They parked there and got Bus into Work or Walked.
All Cars are Taxed, Mot & Insured so should be able to park where they like.
People already park without considering others. That’s the reason why often bins don’t get collected either because they can’t get in with trucks.
Whoever lives in that House, that Bush is there Responsibility to sort out-even if they do it themselves or ask Council to help for a Fee.
In Tenancy Agreements it states Garden should be looked after, aswell as clearing Rubbish-either to the Tip or Clearance.
How have got away with that for so long, Council Staff no longer walk the Estates to check.
Regular Estate and Tenancy checks have been something raised in panels a few times. I think more can be done to make these more frequent too.
We also have reporting tools online that can be used. When supporting other residents, I’ve found that’s been the first step missed significantly. I know BHCC should be able to identify these things themselves; but sometimes a little prompting goes a long way.
If cars constantly park there how can the council cut the hedge?????
You’re lucky. In Polegate there is no parking enforcement at all. Police aren’t interested so idiots park wherever they fancy.
Bizarrely during the day it’s contractors employed by BHCC that block pavements in this area.
I drive a recycling lorry around Hollingdean. It is a nuisance getting down Horton Road and backing down Southmount. I have come very close to the fences due to the parked cars. Plus in order to get into some roads I have to manoeuvre over verges and paths, which in turn causes damage.
I don’t get it. There are no yellow lines there, so it is legal to park. If these cars were not on the pavement then they would block the road even more. If you don’t want parking there then put in double yellows.
I don’t understand why people complain about legal parking.
As a driver, you should be aware that even without yellow lines, it’s still an offence under the Highway Code and the Road Traffic Act to block pavements or create a hazard for other road users, including pedestrians. That’s especially true when cars park partly or fully on the pavement or in a way that makes roads impassable for emergency services or bin lorries. So yes, legal parking can still be problematic and actionable.
They got rid of the park and ride (made it pay parking) – this is a natural consequence of a shit council.
Hollingdean Residents Association predicted these problems more than 10 years ago. It didn’t take high I.q. to realise that Hollingdean would have parking problems for years to come.
The parking consultations have been used as a way for the council to make more money out of Residents visitors and even their own staff.
This is not solving problems only creating more. Watch out north part of Hollingdean you will be targeted next I strongly disagree that Hollingdean should be split into 2 areas . There is no such place as North or South Hollingdean. Hollingdean is one estate that I have lived on for my whole life ( 58 years and counting )
The council is creating a north/ south divide in Hollingdean to deflect away from future parking problems. When parking is no longer free in south part of Holliingdean where do you thing anti social and illegal parking will go.
Hollingdean is BHCC s latest cash cow. Ian Beck (secretary Hollingdean Residents Association)