MEASURES to regulate traffic and parking in historic Main Street, Haworth, will soon go to public consultation.

Parish councillors have been pushing for some form of regulation to deal with obstruction and potentially dangerous traffic-related problems in the famous cobbled street.

Simon D'Vali, Bradford Council's principal highway engineer, said that part of it would be subject to a "restricted parking zone order".

He said: “This order for Haworth Main Street is being drawn up by our legal department and should be advertised shortly.

T&A COMMENT: HAWORTH MAIN STREET TRAFFIC ISSUE MUST BE FINALLY SORTED

“Once it has been advertised members of the public will have three weeks to comment.”

Members of Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council raised the issue of inconsiderate parking in Main Street two years ago.

They noted that since the road’s setts had been repaired and relaid, the yellow lines had been removed, leading some motorists to assume they could park anywhere.

Councillors warned that deliveries to shops and homes had been held up, access to the parish church blocked and even funeral corteges disrupted.

Parish councillor Peter Hill said he understood that the district council has allocated the money required to implement the traffic regulation order (TRO) on the street.

MORE KEIGHLEY HEADLINES

"TROs can take a while because they are expensive and have to go via the Secretary of State," he said.

"A TRO is effectively a mini law, which gives it some teeth, but they charge about £5,000 for each one.

"Once this is brought in, from the Visitor Information Centre down to the Fleece Pub, there should be signs every 30 metres saying 'no parking' and specifying certain times for unloading.

"This is the narrowest part of the street, and the parish council has been asking for a TRO like this to be made."

Councillor Rebecca Poulsen (Con, Worth Valley) called for the issue to be tackled urgently.

"There used to be double yellow lines on the road, but with it being an historic street people weren't keen on having modern-looking, yellow lines painted back onto the setts," she said.

"That's why Bradford Council has looked at having this no-parking zone instead.

"It seems to have been held up in a backlog of paperwork and other schemes, and we would like it to be sorted out as soon as is possible.

"The parking at certain times can be ridiculous up there. At the moment people can park anywhere on either side of the street and council wardens can't do anything about it. They have no legal powers to ticket them.

"The police can be called if there is an obstruction, but that's only in an exceptionally bad situation.

"We need something in place that can be enforced and is understood by everyone."