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The top 20 parking fine hotspots in Cumberland have been revealed – with the Keswick area taking the lion’s share of penalty notices.
Members of Cumberland Council’s highways and transport strategic board met at the Civic Centre in Carlisle on Wednesday to discuss the Cumberland Parking Services Annual Report 2023/24.
It said that the C2057, from Portinscale to Grange, had the highest number of penalty notices handed out, with 1,291. There were six locations in the Keswick area in the top 20, followed by Carlisle with five roads.
Top 20 parking fine hotspots in Cumberland
- C2057 Portinscale To Grange Road, Keswick: 1,291
- Castle Street, Carlisle: 708
- Station Road, Keswick: 545
- Bell Close Car Park, Keswick: 464
- Lowther Street, Whitehaven: 455
- Main Street, Cockermouth: 455
- Portinscale To Grange-in-Borrowdale Road, Borrowdale: 453
- Borrowdale Road, Keswick: 419
- Cecil Street, Carlisle: 411
- Rickergate, Carlisle: 396
- B5289 Keswick to High Lorton: 394
- Strand Street, Whitehaven: 368
- Lakeside Car Park, Keswick: 373
- Aglionby Street, Carlisle: 357
- Main Street, Egremont: 313
- Senhouse Street, Maryport: 248
- Tithebarn Street, Car Park, Keswick: 234
- Gray Street, Workington: 233
- Warwick Street, Carlisle: 233
- Murray Road, Workington: 211
Councillor Roger Dobson (Corby and Hayton, Lib Dems) said he was surprised that places such as Brampton and Longtown did not feature in the list because it was “parking anarchy” in both places and he asked if resources could be directed there.
He was told that it was a positive that Brampton was not in the list and Councillor Denise Rollo (Harrington, Labour) pointed out that there were lots of complaints from mountain rescue teams about inconsiderate parking in the Keswick area.
Councillor Jill Perry (Bothel and Wharrels, Green Party) agreed and said it had been a significant issue in that area.
She said she would be interested in seeing the results of next year’s report to see if the yellow lines which had been added had any effect in reducing incidents of inconsiderate parking and she wondered if the police could use ANPR technology to issue fines.
Karl Melville, the council’s assistant director of highways and transport, said tourists from larger cities such as London were prepared to pay a parking fine as it was considered the “cheapest all day parking” rate.
And councillor Tony Markley (Solway Coast, Conservative) suggested their vehicles should be towed away so they ended up paying more.
The report said during 2023/24:
- 23,402 on street penalty charge notices were issued;
- A total of 3,908 off street penalty charge notices were issued;
- 13,812 resident permits were issued.
According to the report, the top 10 contraventions which were enforced in 2023/24 included:
- Disc without clear display: 11,585;
- Parked in a restricted street: 5,778;
- Parked without clear display: 2,788;
- Loading in a restricted street: 1,494;
- Wrong class of vehicle: 1,211;
- Parked in a permit space: 757;
- Parked in a loading place: 687;
- Disabled persons parking: 608;
- Dropped footway in a SEA: 340;
- Parked beyond the bay markings: 288.
According to the report, during 2023/24, there was an £0.193m deficit in on street enforcement and parking, a £0.208m deficit for off street enforcement and a £2.365m surplus for off street parking.
The report said: “On March 31, 2023, Cumbria Council had a closing reserve balance of £0.326m in respect of unapplied surpluses on the on street parking account.
“As of April 1, 2023, £0.179 m of this reserve balance transferred to Cumberland Council. There was no application of these reserves during 2023/24 and no additions to reserves as there was a deficit for the year.”
The reserve balance of £0.179m as of March 31 will be carried forward to 2024/25 for future use for:
- Providing and maintaining parking facilities;
- Public transport schemes;
- Highway and transport improvements;
- Environmental improvements;
- To make good any deficit on the account met by the council’s general fund in the previous four years.