Verge parking

As car ownership has grown so has the problem of grass verge parking and the ‘green’ concept on which many residential areas were designed is gradually disappearing.

Under a local Byelaw, verge parking in Stevenage is an offence and offenders are liable to prosecution through the Magistrates court. This Byelaw was introduced at a time when vehicles parked on verges was a rarity, but nowadays the problem is so widespread that enforcement under the Byelaw is not practicable, as due to financial restrictions we are unable to constantly patrol the verges to catch offenders. However, drivers who constantly park on the verge will be warned and those who continue to ignore warnings may be prosecuted.

An Experimental Traffic Order is currently in place in the St. Nicholas, Martins Wood and Pin Green areas of the town. Civil Enforcement Officers are enforcing verge and footway parking and issuing Penalty Charge Notice to offenders. Fines are £70 which will be reduced to £35 if they are paid within 14 days. The experimental order will run for 18 months and if successful will be made permanent and may then be rolled out to other areas of the town.

• On-Street Parking Enforcement

We will undertake physical verge protection in certain areas.  Priority is given to dealing with verge parking adjacent to junctions where sightlines are being obstructed, where grassed areas are being used as a short cut between two roads and/or where the damage caused could pose safety hazards for users of the highway (e.g. deep rutting which could pose a hazard to pedestrians).  If the request for verge protection does not satisfy the above criteria, the person making the request is encouraged to ask their local Area Committee to consider funding the verge protection work.

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