Parking information

Parking enforcement is needed to:

• improve traffic flow and ease congestion
• ensure safety for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles
• ensure fair use of limited parking spaces
• improve access for all
• protect and improve our environment

Bank holidays and school holidays

On street parking restrictions and bus lanes still apply on Sundays and bank holidays.

Parking restrictions by schools still apply during school holidays unless stated otherwise.

Obstruction

Obstruction and dangerous parking are police matters. These include parking on the pavement and across driveways and entrances.

We can only enforce where there are parking restrictions in place. If so, you can report this to us.

Any income created from parking enforcement is used to fund the parking enforcement service. If there are additional funds, these are used for transport initiatives under government policy.

You can read our parking enforcement policy here.

Keep clear markings

We will consider all requests for keep clear road markings carefully. However we will only introduce markings in places where they are likely to be most effective.

Keep clear markings will only be considered where at least one of the following applies:

• it may not be obvious that vehicle access is required
• emergency vehicles or service vehicles have had access problems
• there is an identified injury accident problem
• parked vehicles obstruct pedestrian crossing points
• at junctions where visibility is reduced

We do not provide keep clear markings to control parking across private driveways.

Markings already in place will not be refreshed or maintained. This is because of concerns that drivers will not respect these markings if there are too many of them.

Introducing keep clear markings in one place often moves the parking problem to another unsuitable location.

You can submit a request using the contact details on this page.

Yellow lines

We need to issue a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to paint new single or double yellow lines or extend an existing section.

Road users who do not comply with them may commit a traffic offence. Creating a TRO often takes more than a year. During this process we must discuss it with other bodies like the emergency services.

Proposal consultations

There are 2 stages of consultations (informal and statutory) to advertise the proposals so that people can provide comments or support or object to the proposal.

We are currently reviewing the way these schemes are managed due to the number of restriction reviews underway and because of the time and resources needed.

New schemes

We are not starting anymore new schemes until the ongoing schemes have been completed. This is likely to be by the end of the 2023 to 2024 financial year.  

Except in exceptional evidenced circumstances, any new schemes will focus on roads where there is evidence that serious obstruction occurs on a regular basis (for example, a waste vehicle being unable to access a street on multiple occasions).

We only have the resource to progress a very limited number of waiting restriction schemes each financial year.

Request new yellow lines

You can make a proposal for yellow lines if:

• you think there is a good case for a specific location because parking is causing an obstruction on a regular basis
• you have evidence to support this

First you need to contact your local ward councillor to gain support for your proposal.

Once you have written support from your local councillor you can read our application notes.

Then fill in the request form and email it to transportservices@southglos.gov.uk and copy in (cc) your local councillor email address.

Evidence needed

You must include:

• evidence of support from your local ward councillor (for example, email correspondence)
• evidence of the regular obstruction (photos of this taking place)

We will not accept forms that are submitted without these.

What happens next

If accepted a scheme will be added to the priority list as an implementation scheme.

The local transport priority list of scored and costed implementation schemes records all the schemes justified and competing for implementation in our ongoing capital programme each year.

You can find out more about the local transport priority list process.

Overnight parking for lorries

If a vehicle weighs more than 3.5 tonnes, there may be licensing conditions relating to on-street parking under the Licensing of Operators Act 1995.

When a licence is granted for an operating centre, the licensing authority must be satisfied that it is an off-street yard or in the case of an owner-driver, it may be outside where they live.

If you have any concerns about this issue in your area, you may contact the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) by email at: enquiries@dvsa.gov.uk or by calling: 0300 123 9000.

If a large vehicle is causing an obstruction, you can report a parking problem to the police by calling 101.

Annual reports

Our most recent parking enforcement annual report is available in our downloads. For previous reports, contact us.