Glasgow City Council to enforce pavement parking ban from this month

Fines for drivers who park on pavements in Glasgow will be handed out from this month.

Under the new powers, penalty charge notices can be issued against vehicles parked on the pavement on most of the city’s streets.

Enforcement will also be taken against vehicles that are double parked or parked next to dropped kerbs.

Warning notices will be given initially to help drivers adjust to the changes. All parking fines in Glasgow are now £100, reduced to £50 if paid within 14 days.

IT issues have delayed the rollout of the ban, which the Scottish Government allowed from December 2023. Edinburgh introduced the measures in January last year.

Glasgow City Council said the restrictions are being introduced to improve road safety for pedestrians, such as people with disabilities or pushing prams, who can be forced onto the road by inappropriate parking.

An initial assessment of the city’s streets found there will be no exemption from the ban where parking restrictions are already in place or where the road is at least 7.5 metres wide, which allows the safe passage for a fire engine when cars are parked on both sides of the road.

The remaining streets are now subject to a further phase of assessment to check whether other measures to control parking are appropriate before an exemption can be considered.

The council has produced a map of streets where there is no exemption and where further assessment is needed. Drivers are being urged to check the map.

Councillor Angus Millar, the city’s transport convener, said: “Pavement parking, double parking and parking at dropped kerbs create road safety hazards across Glasgow and put vulnerable pedestrians and wheelchair users in danger every day.

“Forcing people to walk on the carriageway in direct conflict with traffic is unacceptable and enforcing the new restrictions will make our street safer for all road users.

“Double parking and dropped kerb parking also cause significant issues in streets around the city for pedestrians but also for drivers, who will find roads blocked and struggle to manoeuvre safely.”

Legislation on pavement parking includes exceptions such as the use of emergency service vehicles or waste collection vehicles, postal deliveries, the delivery of urgent medical assistances, assisting an accident or breakdown or delivering or collecting goods for up to 20 minutes.

Glasgow’s implementation of the ban was delayed by the need for an update to a computer system so that back office software used by the parking team and handsets used by parking attendants were fully aligned.