Rita the meter maid is coming to Gamlingay

Civil parking enforcement on streets near us


A civil parking enforcement 'service agent' putting a parking ticket on a car – part of Cambridgeshire County Council's take over of parking enforcement - March 2023.

By Peter Mann

'County Council notice about parking enforcement - March 2023.

Cambridgeshire County Council is in the process of setting up a new department for parking enforcement, a job currently done by the police.

The set up costs of doing this are estimated to be over £½m – with no numbers yet published as to how much it will cost to run.

Cllr Alex Beckett, chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Highways & Transport Committee, said: “This is not about trying to hammer motorists for extra income as this will actually cost money in the short term.

“We know parking is a major issue for residents, but by taking over powers of enforcement we can help to clampdown on unauthorised parking which in turn will reduce traffic and improve accessibility on our streets.”

How it’s happened

The back story is Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), in partnership with South Cambridgeshire District (SCDC) and the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) have resolved to bring Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) to the District of South Cambridgeshire.

CPE, is a system of parking governance that allows the Highway Authority, CCC, the power to carry out parking enforcement using its own agents rather than relying on the Constabulary to provide that function.

While these ‘agents’ won’t be patrolling Gamlingay (Hatley is currently excused) until at least October, the County Council has written to local councils to say:

‘In order to be able to carry out this service, surveys have been undertaken of the condition of the regulatory signs and lines on the highway within the District. The signs and lines need to be in an enforceable condition. CCC Highways Service operators will be working in the area, either maintaining or installing regulatory equipment.’

The timetable is listed on pages two and three of the Council’s letter.

For a longer explanation of this activity, here are links to the council’s news release and ‘update’ paper…

  • Parking enforcement application to be madepress release, dated 9th March 2023.
  • Councillors’ update paper, dated 7th March 2023.

Post created 9th March 2023.