Only 10% of Flintshire parking tickets handed out in Deeside

Flintshire Council Issue nearly 1000 parking tickets in the 10 weeks since new wardens were brought in.

Figures obtained by Antoinette Sandbach AM reveal more than £22,000 in fines for Flintshire Council so far – with 35% penalty notices still unpaid.

In Deeside just 1.4 tickets are handed out per day by the new wardens, over the 10 week period the figures show a total of 102 fix penalty notices were issued in Deeside, with drivers in Shotton receiving the most 66, with just 3 in Saltney.

One problem often overlooked in Deeside is parking on pavements or the kerbs particularly in residential areas, which makes some roads difficult to navigate, the issue is often a grey area for motorists who are unsure if it is acceptable or even illegal.

Two thirds of the tickets were slapped on vehicles in Mold – showing that parking policies for the town need a serious re-think, said Ms Sandbach, Regional AM for North Wales.

“It is interesting that Mold is one of the few places in Flintshire that charges for parking. Small traders – who are competing against large shopping centres with free parking, – consistently tell me that parking is an issue for their customers.

The figures, obtained by Ms Sandbach’s office under the Freedom of Information Act, show that 995 Penalty Charge Notices – which cost either £50 or £70 – were issued by Flintshire’s five Civil Parking Enforcement Officers from October 1 to the first week in December. Of these, 800 were for illegal parking on the street, rather than in car parks.

Before October 1 parking offences in Flintshire were enforced by North Wales Police The county council has employed five parking wardens under the scheme and promised to spend the proceeds from the fines on the officers’ salaries plus public toilets, signage and the car parks themselves.

When the crack-down was introduced, parking charges in Mold were increased, with visitors now paying 20p per hour for the first three hours or £1 for a full day’s stay.

Councillor Bernie Attridge, cabinet member for environment, said there had been

“a noticeable improvement in general levels of traffic congestion and highway obstructions” since the wardens were introduced.

Parking Fines Hotspot

[dciframe]https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?q=select+col2%2C+col1+from+1TapjS8YyGVhiVJWGWLoi9_GS8t3EtPs0HVwdIi4+limit+1000&viz=HEATMAP&h=true&lat=53.19972193406913&lng=-3.0676674999999705&t=1&z=10&l=col2&y=2&tmplt=2&hmd=true&hmg=%2366ff0000%2C%2393ff00ff%2C%23c1ff00ff%2C%23eeff00ff%2C%23f4e300ff%2C%23f4e300ff%2C%23f9c600ff%2C%23ffaa00ff%2C%23ff7100ff%2C%23ff3900ff%2C%23ff0000ff&hmo=0.64&hmr=24&hmw=1&hml=ONE_COL_LAT_LNG,610,600,0,no,border:0px solid blue;align:left;[/dciframe]