Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee

Meeting date: Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Official Report 708KB pdf

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Petition

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Parking (Legislation) (PE1616)

Item 6 is consideration of PE1616, which seeks the Parliament’s support to make it an offence to park in front of a dropped kerb. This is the committee’s first consideration of the petition, but, as we know, the committee has discussed the matter in our evidence taking on the Transport (Scotland) Bill.

Does anyone have any comments?

I have asked witnesses about this particular issue during our consideration of the Transport (Scotland) Bill, which contains proposals on pavement and double parking, but not on parking in front of dropped kerbs. I have a constituent for whom this is a real issue.

We should congratulate Mr Shaw on submitting the petition. I think that the Transport (Scotland) Bill provides an opportunity for us to get movement on and to progress what he seeks. Instead of saying, “That’s it,” we should keep our options and his options open by looking at how we can incorporate such provisions into the bill.

I agree with my colleague. Every day, people in wheelchairs face problems trying to cross roads. We forget that we have the height; because they sit in wheelchairs, they are lower down but they still have to cope with traffic and all the other things that arise in everyday life. We should certainly keep the petition open in recognition that there is a problem that has to be—and hopefully will be—resolved through the Transport (Scotland) Bill.

I agree with Maureen Watt and Richard Lyle. People parking unreasonably on pavements and denying those in wheelchairs access to those pavements has certainly been brought to my attention as an issue in my constituency, but the problem is that, given the narrowness of streets in some residential areas, there are times when it is reasonable to park on pavements. If I were a member of the committee considering the Transport (Scotland) Bill—which I am not—I would like to hear evidence on how that might be resolved. I hope that the committee will look closely at the issues, which are all related, because they need to be addressed, given the significant unhappiness among the disabled community about the lack of reasonable access to pavements.

As with previous evidence taking on the Transport (Scotland) Bill, there seems to be general consensus that the committee should continue to raise the issue of dropped kerbs, try to get the Government to consider it as part of the bill and perhaps get together some amendments that will cover the matter. However, there also seems to be general consensus that, as part of the process, it would be useful to keep the petition open to assist us in taking the matter forward with the Government. Is the committee in agreement with that statement?

Members indicated agreement.

We will therefore keep the petition open. Thank you very much.

We will now move into private session.

11:21 Meeting continued in private until 11:33.