The council is to start ticketing drivers who park in cycle lanes, using cameras so that fine notices can be posted to vehicle owners’ homes.
The crackdown is due to begin next month, starting with warning letters, with fines to follow from October.
Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We will be taking action from September to reduce the number of people parking illegally in some of the city’s cycle lanes.
“New legislation came into force last June which means we can now use cameras as evidence to issue penalty charge notices (PCNs) by post to people who park in cycle lanes where there are currently restrictions on parking or loading.
“Currently, these will include
- Church Street
- London Road
- Lewes Road
- Preston Road
- West Street
…
“It is important that the city’s cycle lanes are free for people cycling to use but sometimes cyclists can find them obstructed by people who have parked inconsiderately.
“People who park in the lanes are given a short grace period to allow for pick-ups and drop-offs only.
“We will be sending warning letters from September to anyone caught on camera parking illegally in these locations.
“From October, a PCN will be issued. The PCN charge is £70 or £35 if paid within the first 14 days.
“Following this, we will be looking at introducing the enforcement criteria at more sites across Brighton and Hove.”
The council said: “Regulations in the Traffic Management Act 2004 give limited powers to local authorities in England to issue PCNs using camera enforcement when vehicles are parked illegally in places such as bus stops and school zigzag areas and for driving in bus lanes.
“In June 2020, these powers were extended to allow enforcement by camera to people who park in a cycle lane where there are restrictions on parking or loading.
“Although it is illegal to park in a cycle lane, camera enforcement can only take place where there are also single or double yellow lines in operation or a loading restriction is in force, indicated by single or double yellow kerb marks.
“As well as the new enforcement of some cycle lanes, we are also expanding our enforcement of illegal parking in city bus stops.
“At the moment, cameras currently enforce illegal parking at a number of central bus stops in Brighton and Hove.
“From September, this is increasing to bus stops citywide with PCNs being issued to vehicles seen parked in a bus stop.
“Motorists will again be given a short grace period to allow for pick-ups and drop-offs only.”
The council added: “Any surplus generated by parking fees and charges must be spent on provision of public transport services or to road, air quality or environmental improvements
“We use our surplus to provide concessionary bus passes for older and disabled people, subsidising bus routes, road safety and transport improvement projects.”
Green councillor Amy Heley, who chairs the council’s Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said: “I know from my experience of using our cycle lanes and public transport how frustrating it can be when the routes are blocked by illegally parked motor vehicles.
“This new legislation will help us to keep cycle lanes clear and safe for those that use them. It will also mean smoother passage for those that do use a car around the city.
“We are committed to providing safe routes for people to travel either by using active travel routes or by using public transport.”
Good to hear that the council and Cllr Amy Heley are saying that the council will “provide safe routes for people to travel… using active travel routes”.
Excellent. So when will the council help people who walk along pavements by keeping them clear of weeds and other plants? Walking is by far the main active travel method in the city (dwarfing cycling). But walking gets little spending or attention
So when will the council do what it is saying here and support active walking?
Or will Cllr Heley resign as she keeps not delivering what she has said and promised?
Of course a weed on a pavement is far more likely to kill you than a speeding car or obesity following a lifetime sat in cars, isn’t it.
Surprised this was not already being done. Now sort out our pavements!
Just for clarification, does this also include loading and/or waiting or is it just for parking? Can someone ascertain this please.
How about a smoother passage for those driving in Old Shoreham Road, Councillor Heley?
I’ve got a good idea – let’s turn the Old Shoreham Road back into a four-lane dual carriageway, thus encouraging more driving, more speeding and more people killed while trying to cross the road.
Yes, I quite agree!
We Don’t Want No Cycle Paths Here! https://t.co/WQqYYLXvZs
Also better to have cameras at all junctions to capture cyclists going through red lights.
Would be ideal of course if all cyclists were registered and licenced.
One day huh.
How are you going to register and license a 6 year old, Chaz?
Don’t worry M, you can ask your mother to ride with you. Bless.
What would the point be of registering and licensing all cyclists? It doesn’t stop motorists from killing thousands of people a year. And what would it achieve?
glas to read that it is OK for a car to use the bike lane as “Motorists will again be given a short grace period to allow for pick-ups and drop-offs only.”
The council should specify how long that “short grace period” is.
So when is the council going to do something about cyclists/E-scooters using the pavements and leaving their contraptions lying about on the selfsame pavements creating trip hazards?
Yet again it seems that the so called Greens are only interested in the rights of the minority cyclists and not the majority pedestrians…
Yes, of course cyclists and e-scooters are the problem, not the cars belching out fumes, obstructing the pavement and mowing down people every day.
And just because you’re sat in one, don’t think that lets you off the hook. Vehicles fumes are at their highest inside a car.
Is it me or is a new sort of fascism creeping into our council? The motorist is the new easy target when distraction politics are needed – just as Hitler did with Jews and Gypsies and with us gay boys.
It’s not that we want motorists parking illegally – they shouldn’t – but it’s weird that the council pick on cars parked in cycle lanes when cars and vans endlessly hold up buses on major public transport routes like Western road.
No mention is made of the current plague of polluting moped delivery guys.
It’s also weird that cyclists are not fined for riding on pavements and when blocking pedestrians.
It’s strange too that we have illegal eScooters and motorised skateboards everywhere, and yet they get away with riding just where they like.
This demonising of car owners is also a useful distraction for when the council fails in its obvious duties. For example, the seafront cycle lane by Hove lagoon (that I use daily) is completely blocked by the overgrown hedge that the council has failed to cut back or trim this season.
If, like me, you don’t particularly like cars, then you might happily take sides on this.
On the other hand, who will they come for next? Will it be the gardener burning weeds in his back garden? Or will it be the woodburning stove owners of Hanover?
It’s strange that you’ve compared being fined for doing something that you’re not meant to do (i.e. crossing a solid white line in a car to park in a cycle lane) to millions of Jews being exterminated by the nazis.
I have read some ludicrous comments on this site over the years but this must be one of the most absurd ever.
It is also deeply offensive and hurtful to the families of people who actually died at the hands of the Nazis. Comparing their fate to that of a motorist being fined for parking in a cycle lane is grotesque and perhaps a little unbalanced.
That’s really chilling. Cars kill and maim thousands a year. To compare trying to do something positive about that to Nazism…
I’m speechless.
Thanks for the selective reading of my post.
However my point still stands – namely that the demonisation of all motorists is a distraction tactic that is being used by a council that dishes out punishment unevenly at a time when it really needs to get its own house in order.
This is a council that deals with the problems they themselves have created by victim blaming and by issuing threats of fines.
Heley has become a bigger embarrassment than Kitkat, and I’m amazed she’s still in the job.
I went out on the bicycle today, many roads are below standard.