Calls for parking enforcement in the High Street to deter cars parking all day

WESTBURY Town Council will write to Wiltshire Council to request regular parking enforcement in the High Street following concerns that some motorists are taking advantage of the system. 

Cars are permitted to park in the High Street for a maximum of 30 minutes with no return within two hours and this is supposed to allow short stops, so people can pop into shops in the town centre, but councillors have heard reports of people ignoring this and subsequently parking all day, with no repercussions. 

In an email to the parking services manager at Wiltshire Council, cllr Gordon King said, “Throughout Westbury’s town centre and indeed its central business area, there is a fragrant disregard of the road traffic regulations including parking arrangements which has led to people taking advantage, staying too long, and parking on pavements or green spaces that are inside of the regulated area. 

“In Westbury High Street drivers are staying way beyond the 30 minutes allowed and even all day to avoid car park charges and far too many people are using the area in front of the tanning salon as a parking area, even though it is inside the road traffic order and bollard area.” 

The issue was brought up in a meeting of Westbury Town Council’s highways, planning and development committee last week, where cllr Jane Russ reminded councillors that they were rebuffed by Wiltshire Council the last time they asked for parking enforcement in the town centre. 

“We did at one point suggest that we could pay for someone to look at the parking there, but they did not want to do this,” said cllr Russ. “We should now press this issue because it is so basic and there are issues with parking all over the town, not just in the High Street.” 

The town council also recently installed planters in the Market Place as a way to stop motorists from inappropriately parking on the pavement in the area.