Closed
Damage to grass verge due to vehicles parking there
Sent to West Northamptonshire Council less than a minute later. ref: 9113893.
We have noticed that 2 neighbours are using this grass verge for parking vehicles which they are fixing up and then move on. It is making the street scene unsightly and has caused damage to the grass verge.
Updates
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Thank you for reporting a fault. Officers will now investigate the concerns and this may take up to 5 working days. If you believe that your concerns are urgent then please phone us.
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Investigation: Completed (No Action Necessary) - For more information about our services, please visit https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/ parking-roads-and-transport
You can also keep up to date on highways by following us on Facebook and Twitter @wnhighwaysThank you for your enquiry. This is a common problem at this time of year where the verges soften and become prone to rutting. It is unfortunate but West Northamptonshire Council do not have the financial resources to continually reinstate grass verges on the basis that they may look unsightly and as such we are unable to consider remedial works such as bollards, hard-standing or other preventative measures and will only intervene in exceptional circumstances, where the problem has become a safety concern to either road users or pedestrians. If the verge becomes damaged to the point that it is considered to be a safety concern then this can be reinstated through our maintenance programme. The issue with this is that it will soon become damaged again if vehicles continue to overrun the verge.
It is not an offence in law to park a motor vehicle, other than a heavy goods vehicle, on a grass verge unless it causes an obstruction or a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) / byelaw is in force prohibiting it. Requests for posts, bollards or signs to be erected to protect the verge in order to stop parking will not be considered except on safety grounds to persons using the highway or to self-enforce an existing TRO. Although there is no blanket prohibition of parking on verges, a particular incident of verge parking may be considered dangerous or obstructive and therefore constitute a criminal offence which would need to be investigated, and enforcement action taken by the Police.
We appreciate this may not be the response you were hoping for, but it is often a difficult balance to maintain the verges to the standards expected, as once they are reinstated, they will soon become damaged when vehicles continue to overrun them due to the limited parking availability within the highway which was not designed for today’s traffic movements or car ownership levels.
With reference to carrying out repairs on vehicles if this is a regular activity it may be worth reporting this to our Regulations team for further investigation. Regulations@westnorthants.gov.uk
This report is now closed to updates from the public. You can make a new report in the same location.