MORE than a quarter of all parking tickets issued in Blaenau Gwent in the last year have been at The Works in Ebbw Vale, according to a council report.

Between September 10, 2019 and October 31, 2020, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council has issued 2,750 parking tickets. Of these, 724 - 26 per cent - were issued at The Works.

The council can issue parking tickets where “where indiscriminate parking creates potential risks to pedestrians and other road users, like parking congestion in the immediate vicinity of schools”.

The power to issue parking tickets was handed to the council from Gwent Police in July 2019, but did not come into force until September 10 of that same year.

Where were the parking tickets issued?

In total, including The Works, 1,218 parking tickets were issued in Ebbw Vale during the given period, nearly 800 more than the next biggest town - Abertillery - where 621 parking tickets were issued.

In Tredegar 455 parking tickets were issued, and in Brynmawr there were 427.

The area where people in Blaenau Gwent are least likely to get fined for parking is Blaina and Nantyglo where there were just 29 parking tickets issued.

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What were the reasons for the parking tickets?

More than half of tickets issued in Blaenau Gwent have been for parking in a ‘waiting prohibited’ area. This accounts for 1,306 of the 2,750 parking tickets issued.

825 parking tickets were issued for those overstaying, 518 were issued for no/invalid blue badge.

Other reasons include:

  • Loading restricted areas (34)
  • No return (8)
  • Prohibited vehicle class (10)
  • Out of marked bay (10)
  • Loading area (71)
  • Dropped footway (121)
  • Taxi rank (14)
  • Bus stop clearway (18)
  • Outside school (9)
  • Pedestrian crossing (6)

What impact has the coronavirus pandemic had on parking enforcement?

Civil parking enforcement was suspended for four months between March and July so that the council could deal with the immediate response to the pandemic.

A council report says: “During this suspension, the two civil parking enforcement officers were temporarily redeployed to assist at the New Vale Household Waste and Recycling Centre.

“With one officer attending the HWRC site per day in accordance with their shift rota.”

The council says that there has been an 88 per cent collection rate of fines, which is higher than initial projections, and for this reason the council is expecting a small profit of £4,000 for the financial year.