Warwickshire County Council is closely monitoring the easing of lockdown and the return of public spaces to more normal conditions, including busier town centres.Since March, WCC parking management...
Warwickshire County Council is closely monitoring the easing of lockdown and the return of public spaces to more normal conditions, including busier town centres.
Since March, WCC parking management team has allowed free on-street parking for key workers and concentrated enforcement solely on obstructive and dangerous parking. However, as we now move out of lockdown we are starting to see higher numbers of vehicle movements.
To manage this increase in traffic and parking demand, we have chosen to slowly re-introduce routine parking enforcement. Following a previous press release to announce these changes, we have been issuing warning notices to cars parked in contravention since Monday 15 June. These contain no financial penalty. This will continue until Monday 29 June. From that date onwards live penalty charge notices (PCNs) with financial penalty will be issued.
From Monday 22 June we will also be reducing the range of key workers entitled to free on-street parking. In line with the latest government guidance, we will be restricting free on-street parking to NHS staff and social care staff who qualify for the government issued parking permit for use during their working hours only. Anyone who wishes to take advantage of this scheme should contact their employer to obtain the permit. No other forms of identification will be accepted.
Parking enforcement allows us to encourage turnover of parking spaces which, in turn, helps our town centre businesses with their trade. It also ensures that vehicles are parked safely. From Monday 29 June, therefore, we will be returning to the pre-Covid 19 approach to parking enforcement.
Please note that on-street charging for parking continues to apply. Anyone wishing to park on-street should ensure that any applicable parking charge is paid, using either cash and displaying the ticket or via their smartphone using the RingGo cashless payment app. We have also removed the RingGo convenience fee (15p) so that using the app to park costs the same as using cash. All vehicles must be left in compliance with the parking restrictions.
Our town centres are currently undergoing changes to road layouts to help with social distancing. More information is available here: Town centre arrangements
This has had some unavoidable impact on the availability of on-street parking. Many District and Borough Council off-street car parks are continuing to offer free parking at this time. This may be a preferable alternative to on-street parking for the foreseeable future.