Drivers who park illegally are ‘selfish’ and ‘inconsiderate’, community leaders have said, as figures reveal just under 49,000 parking tickets were issued over two years.
Councillors said it was ‘disappointing’ that people were continuing to flout the rules after West Suffolk Council (WSC) data showed how many Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) had been issued for illegal parking.
The figures, which were obtained by SuffolkNews using the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, reveal 25,385 tickets were handed out by the council’s civil parking enforcement officers in 2023/24, an increase of 1,866 on the previous year’s figure.
Leader of West Suffolk Council Cllr Cliff Waterman in Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds. Picture: Mark Westley
The top 10 parking ticket ‘hotspots’ for the last financial year were:
•Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds: 1,813
•Rous Road Car Park, Newmarket: 1,240
•Guineas Multi Storey Car Park, Newmarket: 849
•Cattle Market Surface Car Park, Bury St Edmunds: 779
•High Street, Newmarket: 740
•High Street, Haverhill: 662
•Market Square Car Park, Newmarket: 551
•Whiting Street, Bury St Edmunds: 539
•St Johns Street, Bury St Edmunds: 538
•Lower Baxter Street Car Park, Bury St Edmunds: 520, and Guildhall Street, Bury St Edmunds: 520
Cllr Cliff Waterman said it was ‘just disappointing’ so many people were so thoughtless about their car parking. Picture: Mark Westley
Reasons for the parking violations include vehicles being parked: ‘without clear display’; ‘longer than permitted’; ‘in a residents’ place’; and ‘disabled person’s parking’.
Leader of West Suffolk Council Cliff Waterman, a councillor for Bury’s Eastgate ward, said it was ‘just disappointing so many people are so thoughtless about their car parking’.
“We are a medieval grid and, especially in the town centre, if people park badly or wrongly it causes problems for other people,” he said.
“It’s just rude and inconsiderate to park illegally. Most pay their parking fee. I have no sympathy with people who get a ticket.”
He added: “There’s no excuse for it. There’s plenty of parking in Bury.”
Angel Hill saw by far the largest number of tickets issued out of more than 300 parking locations in 2023/24.
Cllr Cliff Waterman in Angel Hill, the location where the most Penalty Charge Notices (parking tickets) were issued. Picture: Mark Westley
WSC said its civil enforcement officers (CEOs) patrol Angel Hill regularly, on average at least twice a day.
The biggest reason for drivers getting a ticket there last financial year was ‘parked without clear display’ (1,033), which means that no pay and display ticket was seen and/or no payment made via RingGO. Or if a pay and display ticket is seen but cannot be verified for time and date.
The figures for Angel Hill for also show 73 tickets were issued for ‘disabled person’s parking’ – which Cllr Waterman described as ‘outright selfishness’.
Cllr Julia Wakelam, a councillor for Abbeygate
Cllr Julia Wakelam, a councillor for Abbeygate, said: “A lot of people visiting the town are using Angel Hill and if people are blocking it up without paying that’s not fair.
“I think it’s really disappointing people are continuing to misuse the parking spaces. It’s just selfish. They are not thinking of other citizens and they ought to do so.”
She added: “I know parking is a problem in Bury – because it’s such a popular place people find it difficult to get a space – but it’s exacerbated by people who are parking without paying for it.”
Both Cllr Waterman and Cllr Wakelam said it was ‘positive’ that the rules were being enforced – but wished people wouldn’t park illegally in the first place – and commended the work of the CEOs.
Abbeygate councillor Joanna Rayner
Cllr Joanna Rayner said: “As Abbeygate councillor I am pleased to see that the transfer of civil enforcement powers [to WSC] is bringing effective control to managing parking in Abbeygate.
“I am acutely aware of the limitations on parking availability in the residential areas and it is important to ensure that this is being used appropriately.
“There are a number of convenient public car parks for residents and visitors to use when they choose to visit our lovely town.”
Vivien Gainsborough Foot, chairman of the Churchgate Area Association in Bury St Edmunds
Vivien Gainsborough Foot, chairman of the Churchgate Area Association, which represents residents and businesses in the medieval grid area of Bury, previously said it used to be a ‘wild west’ of illegal parking in the grid, but ‘it had been tamed’.
“The CEOs have been absolutely brilliant,” she said for this article, adding the parking problems in the grid had ‘hugely improved’. “People are not parking on corners or dangerous places any more.”
WSC took on civil parking enforcement from April 6, 2020, which gave it powers to deal with roadside parking offences, whereas previously this was managed by the police.
Up until then the council only enforced its own car parks and residential parking bays under the Road Traffic Regulation Act.
Angel Hill saw 1,813 parking tickets issued in 2023/24. Picture: Mark Westley
Cllr Dave Taylor, cabinet member for operations at WSC, said: “The purpose of parking enforcement is to ensure that spaces are available for residents who have paid for a permit to park near their house, to ensure the availability and turnover of parking spaces to support businesses, and that loading bays are used both fairly and for their proper use.”
He added it was also about tackling inconsiderate and dangerous parking by a minority of motorists, for example preventing vehicles such as emergency services from being able to get through.
The data also revealed the income generated by the parking tickets was £819,761.75 in 2023/24 – an increase of £64,415.36 on the previous year.
The income is ringfenced and, as part of the agency agreement with Suffolk County Council, pays for transport and infrastructure projects across the district as well as other parts of Suffolk.
Guildhall Street, Bury St Edmunds
The money also funds WSC’s civil enforcement team, which operates over seven days a week, 364 days a year, any on-street Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) changes/amendments, road signage, relining of restricted yellow lines and other similar markings.
Cllr Wakelam believes all parking ticket income should come back to the area. “The problem with the money going back into Suffolk County Council is the money doesn’t all get spent in the west of the county,” she said.
WSC said with regards to parking investment in West Suffolk, last financial year £560,000 was spent on lighting, resurfacing and CCTV enhancements to the multi-storey car park and the resurfacing of Ram Meadow Car Park, in Bury.
And in the current financial year, resurfacing works have been completed in Moreton Hall, in Bury, and West Stow.
Currently new electric vehicle (EV) charging points are being installed in Newmarket and Bury, and resurfacing works in Newmarket and Haverhill are scheduled.