Thursday, March 22, 2012

VANS IN BRIGG TOWN CENTRE - POSITION CLARIFIED

At a recent meeting of a Brigg Town Council committee, very useful clarification was given on exactly which business premises in the town centre are permitted to receive delivery/collection vehicles within the pedestrian area.
Information received from one of the highway officers at North Lincolnshire Council suggests only business premises which do NOT benefit from a separate vehicular access outside the pedestrian area can obtain permits allowing them to receive deliveries, load and unload through the traffic-free zone.
This was in line with what Brigg Blog always thought to be the case when the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) was drawn up some years ago. But memory can play tricks, so it's useful to have this reminder available in the public domain.
Clearly, some Brigg businesses have rear access from Old Courts Road, while the vast majority on the church side of Wrawby Street do not benefit from back entrances. 
There is much concern about the number of vehicles encountered and observed by shoppers and members of the public in Wrawby Street and the Market Place - not just delivery vans and lorries by any means. Many of them belong to people using cashpoints or, in some cases, taking a convenient short cut.
Sadly, a second piece of information is less welcome: Town councillors have been informed that civil parking enforcement officers working for North Lincolnshire Council do NOT have the powers to issue penalty tickets to drivers from contravene the TRO. That, it seems, is purely a matter for the police.
Brigg Blog was unaware that's the situation. And we are sure that many townsfolk will also have assumed that traffic enforcement officers have the powers to enforce anything to do with traffic.
During the town council committee meeting when this issue was raised, it was suggested that any Brigg folk who witness a vehicle being driven through the pedestrian area should take the registration number and pass it on to local police "for further investigation."
Brigg Blog would suggest that, even if the police had the resources to follow up such leads, their only real hope rests with the CCTV system catching the offending drivers on camera.
But it would be a very time-consuming business to view the footage, especially if only an approximate time was forwarded to the authorities by a well-meaning member of the public.
So the wheel turns full circle yet again, with, we would suggest, precious little hope of any real change in the situation.






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3 comments:

Ken Harrison said...

Scribs,
1. I've always been aware that NLC traffic enforcement officers do not have jurisdiction over the the pedestrian area.
Going back some years - at the time of petitioning for Residents' Permits for Queen St et al and during the pre-introduction stage of of NLC assuming responsibility for on-street parking, Peter Scott, now retired NLC officer, clearly stated at various meetings that NLC Enforcement Officers would not have any powers within the pedestrian zone - and that would remain with the police to enforce.
When I've mentioned this previously, I have repeated been informed that I'm mistaken.

2. What about, for example, Molly's Flowers - no direct access from Old Courts, but has rear/side access from Coney Court?
Do the guidelines suggest that such shops can/cannot have deliveries?

Ken Harrison said...

Scribs,
1. I've always been aware that NLC traffic enforcement officers do not have jurisdiction over the the pedestrian area.
Going back some years - at the time of petitioning for Residents' Permits for Queen St et al and during the pre-introduction stage of of NLC assuming responsibility for on-street parking, Peter Scott, now retired NLC officer, clearly stated at various meetings that NLC Enforcement Officers would not have any powers within the pedestrian zone - and that would remain with the police to enforce.
When I've mentioned this previously, I have repeated been informed that I'm mistaken.

2. What about, for example, Molly's Flowers - no direct access from Old Courts, but has rear/side access from Coney Court?
Do the guidelines suggest that such shops can/cannot have deliveries?

Ken Harrison said...

One questioning statement:
It's not the premises/retailers who need the permits, it's the delivery driver.
If one is the same - retailer/delivery driver that's easy, but the guy from 'express delivery service' doesn't know the procedure.
The No Entry sign is Cary Lane carries the annotation ' Permit Holders and Deliveries Only'
In that respect, whether anyone has a permit, deliveries are allowed irrespective of whether shops and premises have an alternative access.
This appears to be another muddled explanation attempting to resolve this situation. There is no clear guidelines and folks appear to be quoting wishful thinking rather than proper legislation.
Show me the by-laws that indicate that the pedestrian zone is vehicular free; allows permit holders access.
If it's a water-tight case - why haven't some folks been changed with traffic violations?
My suggestion is that the whole idea of no, or restricted vehicular access is based upon some nebulous conceptions - and are not based upon any clear and established legislation.