Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2016
That is a fair point, and in taking forward the legislation the Government will have to consider all the issues around enforceability, decriminalised parking, where local authorities are at on the issue and the workability of it all.
We need to resolve the issues that were raised during and indeed after the committee’s consideration of the bill, including getting the right balance between residential need and accessibility, town centre planning principles around regeneration, economic opportunity and so on. However, we need to do that keeping in mind the key principle of tackling irresponsible and inconsiderate parking, which is—pardon the pun—the driving force behind the bill.
It is for that reason that I can make a commitment that this Government, if re-elected, intends to introduce suitable legislation in the next parliamentary session. We would begin with further consultation on all those matters to ensure that we get it right and to ensure fairness in our active travel priorities and accessibility agenda.
We must ensure that any new legislation strikes the right balance and is fully workable so that it can deliver on the principles and the key objectives that successive Parliaments have now tried to deliver.
Although it may not be possible, for the reasons given, to legislate before this parliamentary session concludes, the fact that there seems to be so much consensus shows that we should take the issue forward. That is why this Government is committed to introducing legislation to address the issues that have been raised by so many constituents and by members from across the political spectrum, not least by Sandra White, who got the bill this far, leading to a Government commitment.
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