A COUNCILLOR has hit out at the many motorists who park on the District’s pavements, saying they show “no consideration whatsoever” to pedestrians.

And she said as well as proving dangerous for people in wheelchairs and with buggies, the habit of many drivers was costing the taxpayer “a fortune” in costs to repair pavements.

The issue of pavement parking was raised at a meeting of Bradford Council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee on Thursday.

Members were voting on plans to extend the District-wide public space protection order that gives police and Council wardens greater power to tackle anti social drivers.

Councillor Matt Edwards (Green, Tong) asked if the problem of pavement parking could be included in the order.

Members were told that national legislation on pavement parking was expected to be announced shortly, and so at the moment the public space protection order would not include pavement parking.

Currently parking on the pavement is only illegal in London, and discouraged elsewhere in England. But Government has said it was looking at the laws around pavement parking,and launched a consultation in 2020.

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It said any law would have to weigh up the need for motorists to leave enough space on narrow roads for vehicles to pass and the need for people to be able to safely walk on areas of the highway that were always intended for pedestrians and not motor vehicles.

Referring to the issue at Thursday’s meeting Councillor Doreen Lee (Lab, Keighley West) said: “It is anti-social. There is no consideration whatsoever of people who use the pavement.

“We should be publicising this - parking on the pavements is not acceptable.

“There are a lot of people out there with wheelchairs who don’t have the option to walk onto the road. They can’t leave their house because they can’t get to where they want to go without having to move onto a main road.

“It is a serious issue right across the District. People can’t walk down their streets, its ridiculous. In Keighley you can’t go anywhere without seeing a pavement someone has parked on.

“England wasn’t built for cars, and noone could foresee that houses would have three cars.

“It also costs us a fortune in repairing pavements.

“I don’t think half of the public know they are doing something wrong. They think they are leaving lots of space on the road by parking on the pavement.”

Councillor Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong) said: “Legislation on pavement parking is allegedly coming through. I can’t want to see it happen but I don’t know if it will knowing this government.”