Pavement Parking: where have we got to?

As National Living Streets has reported, the government has decided that local authorities will be given powers to control pavement parking in their area. But no nationwide ban on pavement parking will be brought in unlike across Scotland, which responded with a ban at national level.

Living Streets CEO Catherine Woodhead welcomed the new powers but highlighted that progress would be uneven creating continued risks for walkers and wheelers, especially the most vulnerable among them. See her response on the national website.

What can we expect in Cambridge? There have already been trials to restrict pavement parking, including an ongoing scheme on East Road. This scheme was approved in October 2024 and funded through a Local Highway Initiative, with consultation and a formal Traffic Regulation Order process planned for September 2025. Implementation is expected in March 2026 when East Road is due to be resurfaced and will run for a six month trial and evaluation.

The County Council has committed to move forward if the trial is successful and expand the approach “for all urban areas within Cambridgeshire with informal pavement parking, when it is appropriate to do so”. The new powers for local authorities should embolden the council to move forward more quickly. However, opposition and resistance may slow progress and make councilors nervous.

So we must continue to voice our opposition to “informal pavement parking” as an abuse of pedestrian space, which has blighted roads in the city and made walkers’ and wheelers’ journeys more risky and far less pleasant.