You are here: Home > News > News61

Lib Dem calls double yellow line parking idea unworkable


Transport minister Norman Baker expresses reservations about Tory colleague Eric Pickles's plan to revive local high streets.


Norman Baker, the Lib Dem transport minister, has played down the prospect of drivers being allowed to park on double yellow lines as part of a coalition plan to promote high street shopping.

Responding to a proposal from Eric Pickles, the Conservative communities secretary, Baker said that double yellow lines were "there for a reason" and that his colleague's scheme could turn out to be unworkable.

The split between the two ministers emerged after the Daily Telegraph revealed that Pickles was keen to relax the rules about parking on double yellow lines in an attempt to encourage people to make more use of their local high street.

"The high street is in danger of shrinking or dying off, and over-aggressive parking enforcement is part of the reason why," a source close to Pickles told the paper, which said the minister wanted motorists to be allowed to park on double yellow lines without fear of getting a ticket for up to 15 minutes.

The source added: "If people are worried about paying a fortune in parking fines, it will make them more likely to do their shop online or go to out-of-town shopping centres."

Asked about the plan, Baker said on Monday that "both sides of the coalition" wanted high streets to prosper and that he agreed that over-zealous action by traffic wardens could be a problem.

But he also expressed reservations about Pickles's idea. "The idea of actually having cars parked for a very long period of time on a double yellow line actually undermines the purposes of the yellow line and I'm advised it's unworkable," he said. "They are there for a reason, often for a safety reason."

Baker also said ministers had been discussing the issue "for quite some time" within government. He rejected claims from a Tory source that he was fighting a war against motorists.

"I'm in favour of motorists and I'm in favour of helping law-abiding motorists," he said.

"I want to be sure that when a law-abiding motorist comes into a town centre he or she can find a parking space. I'm not in favour of motorists who park illegally, blocking parking spaces for those who want to use them properly."


Courtesy of www.theguardian.com