The Vale of White Horse District Council is exploring whether to take over on-street parking enforcement in the district.
We are contacting Oxfordshire County Council (the highways authority), which is responsible for formally applying for powers and then delegating civil parking enforcement responsibilities, to find out whether this could be possible.
We are also carrying out work to look at the business case involved in taking over enforcement, including costs and projected income.
Thames Valley Police is currently responsible for this across the Vale, apart from in Abingdon where some streets are dealt with by the town council.
Cllr Elaine Ware, Cabinet Member for Housing and Environment, said: “Illegal and irresponsible parking can make getting around in our towns and villages very difficult and we know that this is a concern for our residents.
“Thames Valley Police is currently responsible for enforcement and we will continue to highlight problem areas. We have an obligation to our taxpayers to ensure we would be making the right move by applying to take over this responsibility and we’re looking at this in detail, while actively working with partner organisations to address issues now.
“In the meantime, I would urge motorists to act responsibly and think first before parking outside permitted areas.
We need to seek formal agreement from Oxfordshire County Council to apply to the Department of Transport to delegate civil parking enforcement powers to our council. If the county council agrees and we decide to take over responsibility, a full review will need to be carried out to look at existing car parking orders and yellow lines.
