A Cessnock councillor is calling for the council to scrap its parking enforcement policy and for the NSW Government to review its road rules to better suit regional communities.
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Labor councillor Jay Suvaal will put forward a notice of motion at Wednesday's council meeting, calling for the general manager to outline the steps required for council to repeal its parking policy, which was adopted in February to bring it into line with the NSW road rules.
Following significant community feedback and discussions at a recent councillor workshop on the matter, Cr Suvaal said it was "pointless" for Cessnock City Council to have a stand-alone policy at all, as council is not able to implement a policy in contrast to the NSW rules.
"Having a stand-alone policy has only created confusion in the community with many residents believing that it was council setting the road rules, when in fact we were just realigning them to match the current NSW Road Rules," Cr Suvaal said.
"I've had many community members reach out to me with concerns about the parking rules so I thought it was important to get clarity on what council does and does not have the power to change."
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Cr Suvaal said the NSW road rules do not allow for any flexibility by councils to take into consideration challenges faced by the Cessnock local government area, like streets with large nature strips and road verges.
The rules also pose a problem in narrow streets, where it is impossible for vehicles to park across the road from each other as the driver must leave at least a three-metre gap on the road alongside to allow for other cars to pass.
Cr Suvaal said while the parking rules have always been there, the revised policy has brought attention to these issues.
"But it's not as simple as just changing the rules," he said.
Cr Suvaal said he would like to eventually see the ability for local decision-making by councils on matters like this.
"The parking rules are set by the State Government in Sydney and seem to be more easily enforced in cities rather than regional areas. This should be reviewed at a state level to see if the roads rules could be amended to suit the needs of regional communities," he said.