5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport: Tackling Pavement Parking

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:38 pm on 13 October 2020.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 5:38, 13 October 2020

There were two points there, really. First, I agree with Huw Irranca when he paints the picture that Vikki Howells also presented us with, of narrow streets with multiple cars and sometimes work vehicles, and I would reiterate: we can't build our way out of this problem. This is a problem that has emerged over the last 20 to 30 years as car dependency has grown. Even if we had the money and the land available, I think that there would be serious questions to be asked as to whether or not this was the right priority for us, because it simply perpetuates the problem and doesn't address the problem at source.

In terms of implementing this now, and working with local communities, this is why, in both the 20 mph hour work and this work, I have sought to make sure that local authorities are the key partners in delivering this, and getting them, in the spirit of co-production, around the table as we come up with these rules and recommendations, to come up with something that will work for them.

Just look at the timetable. We are saying that, in July 2022, the pavement parking powers will come in for local authorities. Then, the following April, the 20 mph speed limits will come into force right across Wales. In both of those cases, it will be up to the local authorities to decide how those powers are implemented in their local areas, which they will know best. We'll be working alongside them, up to that point, in developing a public communications campaign, much like we did on organ donation, that tries to bring people along with us, not as a way of penalising them or making life difficult, but as a way of saying to them, 'We have a shared sense of values here with the way we want society to be and how our local communities want to work.' We know from repeated opinion surveys that these are considered real, everyday nuisance problems for people in their communities, and that's why we want to work, both with the public, to bring them along with a sense of shared spirit and understanding and common purpose, and with local authorities to make sure that the implementation is right and is malleable and flexible enough at a local level so that they can decide how and where to apply it.