Nottinghamshire County Council to install new enforcement camera on Castlegate, Newark, to tackle county wide parking at bus stops problem

Motorists are being urged to think before they park, as measures are taken to tackle the problem of parking at bus stops.

Nottinghamshire County Council is raising awareness of the impacts of parking at bus stops, which remains an issue across the county.

Doing so often means that passengers cannot board or exit busses in their preferred location, which can particularly affect elderly and disabled people, or those with limited mobility, who rely on public transport.

The authority will now install 10 new enforcement cameras at sites across the county to help to prevent bus stop parking in known hotspots, following the success of a smaller roll out last year which led to a 45% reduction in parking offences.

Among the new locations is the bus stop on Castlegate in Newark, chosen following passenger and driver feedback.

Neil Clarke, cabinet member for transport and environment, said: “My message to all motorists in Nottinghamshire is to imagine that you are a bus passenger who perhaps has a disability or who is elderly and struggles with mobility and think about how you would board and alight the bus if you could not access it safely.

“All too often we are seeing parking contraventions, albeit for a short amount of time, at key bus stops meaning that buses then cannot park safely to pick up and drop off passengers.

“We typically see these offences at bus stops close to fast food outlets on busy roads but that doesn’t take away the importance of thinking before you park at any bus stop.

“It is really good news that in just over a year the five cameras we already have in place across Nottinghamshire have achieved a reduction in the amount of parking offences, but we know that there is more work to do.

“That is why we have chosen to increase the number of enforcement cameras to other known areas where bus stop parking is an issue.”

The council have said that lines and signage would also be refreshed to properly signpost bus stops to motorists.

Mr Clarke added: “However, camera or not, I would like to appeal to all motorists across the county to say that even if you think it won’t affect anyone, parking in a bus stop is certainly going to affect someone whether that is a passenger or driver and I would urge everyone to think twice about parking in these areas.”