South Oxfordshire District Council is exploring whether to take over on-street parking enforcement in the district.
We are contacting Oxfordshire County Council (the highways authority), which is responsible for formally applying for powers and then delegating civil parking enforcement responsibilities, to find out whether this could be possible.
We are also looking at the business case involved in taking over enforcement, including costs and projected income.
Thames Valley Police is currently responsible for this across most of South Oxfordshire, apart from a small number of spaces in Wallingford, which we deal with, and some areas of Henley, which the town council is responsible for.
Cllr Caroline Newton, South Oxfordshire District Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment, said: “We’re very mindful that problems do exist with on-street parking in some areas of South Oxfordshire. That’s why we’re taking this issue seriously, not only by liaising with the police and partner organisations, but by exploring whether we should apply to take over responsibility for enforcement.
“We’re working on this and there’s lots to be considered. In the meantime, I’d like to encourage motorists to park responsibly and help to keep our towns and villages moving.”
We need to seek formal agreement from Oxfordshire County Council to apply to the Department of Transport to delegate civil parking enforcement powers to our council. If the county council agrees and our council decides to take over responsibility, a full review will need to be carried out to look at existing car parking orders and yellow lines.
