Pavement parking stops me from using my mobility scooter, says Dartford resident, as Kent MPs call for action

A disabled woman has spoken out to criticise inconsiderate drivers who park on the pavement.

Debbie Goodall, of Grosvenor Crescent, Dartford, is 63 and has suffered with limited mobility since she was 14 as a result of osteoarthritis.

She was able to work up until seven years ago, even running a haulage company with her husband for 25 years.

But now the addition of osteopenia and damage to nerves in her leg after a fall a year ago has left her depending on a walking frame or sticks to get about.

She said: “I have a mobility scooter, but I can’t use it because the pavement in my road is so often blocked by parked cars.”

She blames commuters who park in the residential road rather than pay charges at Dartford Station.

She said: “I know they are commuters because I see them arrive in the morning, get out and walk off. Then they come back in the evening.”

But she said there is also a firm based nearby that she believes encourages its staff to park their vans in her road to free up space on its site.

She said: “It’s very frustrating. I have to walk in the road to get past, as would anyone in a wheelchair or a parent with a buggy or pushchair.”

She said she has tried complaining to the police, but: “They said they can’t sit and wait all day for someone to get in their cars.

“I’ve pestered Dartford council, but been told I would need to get up a petition for yellow lines to be put down.

“I’m fed up. It’s dangerous walking in the road because you can’t see cars coming round into the crescent.

“It’s beyond a joke.”

Mrs Goodall is one of thousands of residents across Kent who are suffering because local authorities do not have the powers needed to deal with pavement parking.

Council traffic wardens cannot ticket someone purely for parking on the pavement. They can only issue a ticket if a yellow line offence is being committed at the same time.

Unfortunately for Mrs Goodall, there are currently no parking restrictions in her road.

The police do have powers to penalise motorists if an obstruction is being caused, but as Mrs Goodall has discovered, they rarely have the time to do so.

Kent Police said: “In general, the local authority deals with parking issues and we may be called when a vehicle is causing a dangerous obstruction.”

However, a change may be on the way.

The situation is not the same in the capital, nor in Scotland. London and Scottish boroughs do have the power to ticket anyone who parks on the pavement.

The government local transport minister, Lilian Greenwood, has promised to extend the same powers to English boroughs later this year.

The news has not come soon enough for 36 Labour MPs who have written to Mrs Greenwood urging her to crack on with it.

The group - which includes Rochester and Strood MP Lauren Edwards, and the MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, Kevin McKenna - wrote: “Disabled people have campaigned for decades for the right to walk or wheel down their street independently.

“It is now time to get this legislation over the line for our constituents.

“According to polling from Sustrans, 65% of people support councils enforcing against pavement parking.

“It’s a simple change,” said the MPs, “Give all councils the same powers that others have.”

Ms Edwards told Kent Online: “I’m pleased to see the government is to introduce new powers to crack down on pavement parking.

“Councils now need to seize this opportunity and identify the roads where action is needed.

“It won’t be practical everywhere, but we need to make getting around easier for pedestrians, particularly for people in wheelchairs and those with buggies.

“Pavement parking can be incredibly dangerous for pedestrians like Mrs Goodall, who are forced to step into the road, and until now the only remedy was to report inconsiderate parking to the police.”