Annual Parking Report 2022

Service Director - Highways and Waste 

As indicated by Councillor McElroy, the Council tries to use this Annual Parking Report to provide the sort of information that many people find useful, as well as meeting our statutory obligations. We have made some further changes this year so that it better reflects the type of information which the Parking Services team is most frequently asked to provide. Unless indicated otherwise, the information contained in this report relates to the year from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023.    

It is more important than ever that the limited resources available are spent to best effect. It is also important that the various teams within the service work together to ensure that the most effective solutions to traffic issues are identified and delivered and that, where possible, we can anticipate future issues.    

Like all authorities in Tyne and Wear, Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) operates throughout the Borough of Gateshead (with the exception of a few significant routes such as the A1, the A184 and certain sections of the A167). This means that the Council is responsible for the enforcement of parking restrictions rather than the police, although they continue to be responsible for the roads not subject to CPE and for all obstruction offences. The Council does not have the power to deal with vehicles which are causing an obstruction of the highway (in this sense, "highway" includes footpaths as well as roads).  Obstruction offences of this nature are dealt with by the Police. Such offences can be reported by calling the police non-emergency line, 101. 

Gateshead Council is committed to being transparent about our Parking Services and enforcement activity and this report provides an insight into the activities during the 2022/23 financial year. We also detail how our parking enforcement service is managed in Gateshead with an aim to develop an understanding and acceptance of why such enforcement is important.  

To help achieve the above goals and contribute to our commitments in respect of the Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan, Parking Services manages a wide range of the borough's parking-related functions, and these will be referred to in this report.  They include: 

• Council operated public car parks (off-street) 
• on-street public parking bays 
• resident's parking schemes and permits 
• The Blue Badge scheme  
• Civil Parking Enforcement strategy and appeals 

Another function of the team is the co-ordination of the Street Works in Gateshead. In brief, they are responsible for applying the provisions of the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991 (NRSWA) in relation to the Co-ordination of highways works by utility companies and the Council's own operations. They are required to grant licences for such works to other contractors, inspecting re-instatements following completion of those works and directing rectification work where required. This includes levying statutory fees for inspecting street works operations and issuing fixed penalty notices for non-compliance with NRSWA. The team must also ensure that all works carried out on the carriageway which are likely to impact on traffic flow are shown on the national street works website. If you think there has been a poor road repair carried out by a utility company, then please contact the utility company to report it in the first instance. If you are unaware who carried out the work, then please contact the Streetworks team on 0191 433 3092 for assistance. 

Thank you for reading our Annual Report and I hope you find it of interest. If you have any further questions after reading this report or have any comments, the Council's Parking Services team will gladly assist. 

Parking Services 

Highways and Waste 

Housing, Environment and Healthy Communities  

Civic Centre 

Regent Street 

Gateshead 

NE8 1HH 

Tel: 0191 433 3636 

Parkingandregulation@gateshead.gov.uk 

Parking information on the Gateshead website.