PROBLEM PARKING IN WINGHAM
Please help the Parish Council keep our village safe for residents and all road users
At their July Parish Council Meeting, Councillors voiced their concerns about the amount of inappropriate and often dangerous parking in the village where restrictions are in place such as yellow lines, zigzags, and on bus clearways.
The Council's main concern is the safety of our residents and all users of the A257.
Parking in the village is often a contentious matter and councillors recognise there are wider issues around parking availability, but there have been so many incidents of poor and dangerous parking recently that the Council have started to report these directly to Dover District Council (DDC).
DDC Enforcement Officers have already visited the village in recent weeks and will continue to do so, but it does help if they understand the recurring problems, so resident support is encouraged please.
Of particular concern has been vehicles parking on double yellow lines at the Canterbury Road bends where there are also central double white lines and the road width is restricted by a high hedge to one side. This is particularly dangerous as large vehicles heading towards Canterbury often come around the bend by the church in the middle of the road and would come face to face with other vehicles if they happen to be overtaking any vehicle parked on the double yellows.
Vehicles are also regularly seen parked on the zigzag lines by the High Street pedestrian crossing. This is dangerous because it blocks the driver's view of pedestrians waiting to cross; it is also illegal.
There are many other examples of nuisance parking in the village (obstructing the footway; parking on bus clearways; parking next to central double white lines, etc) which the Parish Council would like to discourage to keep our village safe for all users.
More information on parking in the district can be found on the DDC's Parking & Streets page. The Local Authority is usually responsible for most parking matters and residents who wish to report a problem with parking can do so on the DDC form here: https://forms.dover.gov.uk/xfp/form/1143
Kent Police provide further information on nuisance parking on their Nuisance and Abandoned Vehicles site where they explain who to report the issue to. Though most issues should be reported to DDC, you can report some to Kent Police online using their anti-social behaviour form here: https://www.kent.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb/report-antisocial-behaviour/report-problems-with-the-way-a-vehicle-is-parked/