Up to £1.4 million could be raised from parking fines in Dudley during the first year the council takes over responsibility for enforcement from the police.The council expects to issue 20,000 tickets in the first 12 months it operates the service, it has revealed. It is due to take responsibility on July 7 when 16 additional wardens will join the current team of 10.
Fines of either £70 or £50 can be handed out by parking wardens.
These cover a variety of offences ranging from parking illegally on double yellow lines to leaving vehicles for too long on car parks.
If every fine handed out was £70 it would generate £1.4 million and all fines of £50 would raise £1 million.
Dudley Council has stressed that taking over parking responsibility is not a money-spinning exercise and it will take around four years before it starts breaking even.
It has vowed that all the money from fines will be ploughed into areas such as road resurfacing, junction improvements and pedestrian crossings.
Spokesman Phil Parker said: “It is estimated that around 20,000 tickets will be issued during the first year.
“Civil parking enforcement is not being introduced to create revenue but is aimed at reducing congestion on the roads and will in no way affect responsible road users.
“There are initial set-up and staffing costs and it is anticipated that the service will break even in around four years.
“By law, when any surplus income is generated it will be re-invested into traffic and road safety schemes.”
In Wolverhampton and Sandwell around 200 motorists were hit with parking fines on the first day the new powers were introduced in April - with more than half at £70.
Latest national figures show a record 3.5 million drivers across the country were given parking fines which generated £214 million for the coffers of 159 councils.
7 Comments
IT IS IN MY VIEW THAT NOT ONLY DUDLEY ARE GOING OVER BOARD, BUT THE PARKING AUTHORITY IN A WHOLE THRU-OUT THE U K. LEGALIZED RIP-OFF AS I SEE IT.
Anyone who thinks this measure isn’t needed should take a walk down Summer Hill in Halesowen, where cars are regularly parked blocking pavements. In fact, ‘walking’ down this busy access road onto the local estate is something that is becoming increasingly difficult, especially if you’re a pedestrian with shopping bags or a pushchair.
The sooner these selfish motorists have the thought of a £70 fine with which to encourage them to park responsibly, the better!
have the council considered that nobody will be able to afford the petrol to get their cars to the car park in the first place?
Any small village/Town around Dudley does not have enough car parking anyway, all the side streets are congested enoughthis will make it worse. ie Kingswinford, Sedgley etc
Will this mean more yellow lines to create more offences? Mmmmmm
Park in the correct place, for the right amount of time, and pay the charge stated on the machine, and people have absoloutely nothing to worry about. How people can argue when they receive a parking ticket is beyond me, as it isn’t exactly rocket science to get it right in the first place. The trouble is that some people think that it is their given right to do exactly what they want to do, when they want to do it. Unfortunately they are wrong, ticket them and maybe then they will get the message.
Hmmm…yes. Park legally and they cannot, repeat cannot, charge you money with a parking ticket.
Exactly how hard is it to avoid parking on double yellow lines, buy tickets from machines and only park for a set time? Seems like the majority of motorists manage to do all that.
now that the local councils have millions of our money will they put some of it back in to our roads a couple of words pot holes,i ride a vespa the roads in the last ten years are worse than ever,why do we keep putting up with ripoff britain we pay for every leech in the country mp’s filling there pockets up, councils not listen to local folk etc etc.
If the council was serious about tackling inconsiderate parking, it would reinstate free parking.
I don’t condone irresponsible or illegal parking, but neither do I believe it has the right to charge people to use car parks we already pay for with our council tax. I consider free parking to a be a fundamental civil liberty, and while I take great care never to park illegally, I will go to whatever lengths it takes to find ways of avoiding to pay for parking. My advice is to park on the unrestricted back streets and walk a short distance.
And all the people who are praising the zeal of the car parking Red Army should remember that the reason their revenue will go through the roof is not because there has been a sudden explosion in illegal parking, but because they will be looking for stupid technicalities to catch people out - parking tickets displayed the wrong way, number plates overhanging bays etc. That is why the old police traffic wardens, who would probably have displayed a (admittedly tiny) modicum of common sense have been replaced by an income-driven private company.