Pavement parking banned in Edinburgh from January

Cars are to be banned from parking on pavements in Edinburgh from January.

It will be the first city in Scotland to implement the ban which could see drivers who mount the kerb facing a £100 fine.

Parking at dropped kerbs and double parking will also be banned, with an exemption for delivery drivers.

National regulations begin on the 11 December with Edinburgh's enforcement starting in January 2024 to make the city's roads "accessible for all".

Councillors voted to permit the ban on Thursday afternoon.

It comes after the Scottish government passed a law in 2021, giving new powers to local authorities.

In England, parking on pavements is permitted unless it has been specifically prohibited by a local authority, such as in Greater London - although police can intervene if a driver is causing obstruction.

Edinburgh City Council said pavement parking was a "persistent issue". It carried out a survey which suggested that 68% of residents supported the proposals.

Parked vehicles can be a particular problem for disabled people.

Elaine MacKenzie is visually impaired and has a guide dog, Tessy. She said they often have to move onto the road because their path is blocked.

She cited one example when there was a work van parked on the pavement.

"Now it's a very busy road. I didn't have any option," she said. "I had to go on the road to actually get to where I needed to go and I was terrified.

"Sometimes you're walking towards traffic or you can be walking with traffic coming from behind you, which is really really scary if you don't see."

The council said it had found pavement parking on more than 500 streets across the city.

No additional parking staff are being recruited to enforce the new rules. Instead, current parking attendants will patrol the problem areas.

Councillor Scott Arthur, who chairs the council's transport and environment committee, welcomed the ban, but reiterated in the council meeting that it would be a difficult transition for some.

He also added it would "benefit every street in the city", but said he did not doubt there would be some "newsworthy stories" about the ban.

He told BBC Scotland News: "I used to live in Morningside in Edinburgh, a really congested area and we accepted when we lived there that we couldn't park outside our door and sometimes we would have to park somewhere else.

"Parking on the pavement wasn't the answer to my parking problems."

He added: "I think that most drivers, the vast majority of drivers that currently park on the pavement know it's not the right thing to do and maybe feel a little bit guilty about it. All this is a nudge to push them in the right direction."

Other councils including South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders may follow in Edinburgh's footsteps.

South Lanarkshire Council said it would adopt a low key "soft approach" to ensure that any enforcement action considered the impact on drivers.

Scottish Borders Council has held a consultation to identify areas where pavement parking currently takes place.

It said information gathered would be used to implement the ban on a "case-by-case basis".