Dangerous parking is driving folk daft
THOUGHTLESS, and often dangerous, parking in Aviemore and other tourist hot spots in the strath is driving locals up the wall.
Motor homes, trailers and camper vans, often with foreign registrations plates, are high on the list of offenders.
The Strathy has been establishing whose job it is to enforce parking restrictions now that the police no longer employ traffic wardens.
In one case a motor home was parked fully on the public footpath on Saturday in Aviemore by Dutch holiday makers, forcing pedestrians to walk into busy Grampian Road.
Passers-by asked: "Where are all the traffic wardens?"
Other on-lookers said they were astonished that such brazen parking could occur just a couple of hundred yards from the village's police station.
Highland Council took over responsibility for enforcing parking restrictions in 2016 after Police Scotland refused to continue to provide funding for traffic wardens.
But parking enforcement team members have been conspicuous by their absence locally ever since, despite the council renewing yellow lines in the main towns and villages. The move was described by some businesses as "having a positive effect for a few months".
Aviemore Community Council chairman John Grierson, a former traffic policeman, said: "Yes, it is illegal. People, including some police officers, will say it is not illegal to park on the pavement because there is no offence of 'parking on a pavement'.
"They are technically right. However, there is an offence of 'causing an unnecessary obstruction'.
"It can be found at Section 22 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
"Similar confirmation can also be found at regulation 103 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986."
Highland Council convener Bill Lobban said: "My understanding is it is an offence to park on the pavement and therefore is a police matter not covered by decriminalised parking. The same has been happening on Santa Drive with tour buses parking on the pavement."
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "The force continues to have responsibility for parking that is dangerous or causing an obstruction, including vehicles parked on footpaths.
"We work closely with our partners in the local authority to encourage drivers to park responsibly and to carry out enforcement where required.
"We would encourage people to use the public car parks and designated parking spaces available.
"This is particularly important during the summer months when visitor numbers and traffic volume are high.
"It is important that all road users show due care and consideration for other road users and do not allow their vehicle to obstruct the road or a footpath."
A council spokesperson said: "The parking team can currently only enforce the restrictions laid down and because there are no restrictions laid down then there is no contravention.
"Our enforcement team would, however, move this on if they came across it. This is considered obstruction and the police would respond to this.
"In terms of enforcement in Aviemore and other towns, we are working on the traffic regulation order and will hopefully have this advertised for consultation early next month.
"Once the regulation order is through, we can start enforcing in this area. We have 13 parking enforcement officers and they are all mobile."
