Pavement parking bill would be "positive step" – but must await powers
Proposed legislation to ban parking on pavements is a step in the right direction, according to a committee of MSPs – but the bill must await devolution of the necessary power before the Scottish Parliament can pass it.
Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick has ruled that the Footway Parking and Double Parking (Scotland) Bill, a Members’ Bill introduced by Sandra White MSP, is beyond Holyrood's legislative competence. The bill aims to make pavements safer and stop pedestrians – especially those with mobility or visual impairments, or with pushchairs – being forced onto the road to avoid parked cars.
The UK Government has committed to devolving the relevant powers in the Scotland Bill now before Westminster, and while the Scottish Government has indicated that it supports the general principles of the bill, it wants the issue of legislative competence to be addressed before the bill progresses.
However the Local Government & Regeneration Committee agreed to undertake full stage 1 scrutiny, in order to explore the value of the legislation and contribute to the wider debate.
In its report, the committee notes that whilst the bill could be the basis for strengthening the law, there are still questions around how this would work in practice. Committee convener Kevin Stewart MSP said he and his colleagues had been "overwhelmed" by the number of comments receoved from the public on the issue.
“For those affected by obstructive parking on pavements, it can be a serious problem", he commented. "We heard from wheelchair users, people with visual impairments and young families with prams about the very real impact this can have on their day-to-day lives.
“The bill before us is a positive step in addressing this issue. However, there is much more detail needed in order to address how this would work in practice. We believe more thought needs to be given to ensure the bill would be enforced consistently across Scotland. We also believe further consideration needs to be given to how much the bill would cost to implement and enforce."
He added: “Clearly pavement parking is not always obstructive and so we welcome the flexibility the bill provides for local authorities to exempt some areas. We would hope local authorities would use a common sense approach to identifying these exempt areas.”