Parking up the wrong tree? Don't think so

I'm going to a meeting next week called by the local police inspector to take forward the suggestions that parish councils could hire police community officers to carry out patrols to enforce parking legislation. Whittlesford parish council is exploring purchasing notices to affix to vehicles pointing out to them their traffic violation, in the hope that this will have a deterrent effect. I see that the chair of Shelford parish council has called for the local authority to take on parking enforcement duties, as is the case in London. 

This all goes to show that you cannot simply abandon the basic requirement - in a highly vehicle dependent world with limited space - for some forms of control over where and how we hitch up these chariots we are all so reliant on. 

Parking enforcement isnt as much of a priority as preventing burglaries or thefts from farms, or robbery or drug dealing. But it is something that people clearly care strongly about, because it says something about civil society. I hope that we can get a scheme going that enables some police resources to be made available to control this, and if the parish councils have to pay, then so be it.