Natland Village Green: Damage caused by parking
Natlanders are understandably proud of their Village Green. It is a major distinguishing feature of the Village and, as such, its appearance is of importance to us all.
Bad parking and bad driving cause damage to the Green that is unsightly, hampers the maintenance of the Green and detracts from the attractiveness of the village. It is also illegal.
Council Chair, David Peters, comments:
The community of Natland has become increasingly concerned about the damage being caused by vehicles to the Village Green, usually as the result of illegal or inconsiderate parking. Please note:
It is illegal to drive onto the Village Green. If any damage is caused to the surface it is an offence under s12 of the Inclosure Act 1857 and s29 of the Commons Act 1876; it may also be an offence under s1 of the Criminal Damage Act 1971. These are criminal, not civil, offences where the police can bring prosecutions (call 0845 33 00 247 to report).
Parking inconsiderately so as to force other vehicles - particularly larger vehicles such as lorries, buses or agricultural vehicles - to drive onto the Green is also an offence (causing an unnecessary obstruction of the road, s22 Road Traffic Act 1988).
All the grass verges surrounding the Green are legally registered as Village Green, not just the central area.
Natland Parish Council has resolved to take the following actions in order to reduce the damage:
- publicising the issue on the website and notice board;
- drawing the attention of the School, Church and Village Hall bodies to the growing problem, including requesting better communication with parents, churchgoers and hall users, and more consistent use of the "no parking'" A-boards (stored just inside the church) during events;
- placing appropriate notices on the windscreens of offending drivers and recording the incidents.
More drastic physical measures were also suggested; it is hoped that good sense and better behaviour by motorists will make them unnecessary.
Dog Fouling on Footpaths and Bridleways
Dog Fouling on Footpaths and Bridleways
The Natland Parish Plan of March 2004 asked the Parish Council to publicise the issue of dog fouling. The resultant flyer, Helping to Keep our Village Clean!, which was distributed to all households in June 2004, advised that the law which made dog fouling an offence applied in Natland parish to:
- the Village Green
- all the carriageways, footways and verges within the village's 30mph zone
- likewise the whole of Burton Road (40mph zone) and
- the 30mph zone on Natland Road running into Kendal.
The flyer was silent about footpaths and bridleways out in the countryside because the relevant Act does not apply to "land used for agriculture or for woodlands".
Because of recent evidence of an increasing problem on such rights-of-way, for example on the footpath from Burton Road beside the railway and on the bridleway past Cracalt House, further clarification was sought from SLDC.
The officer who enforces SLDC's dog fouling Order has confirmed that it applies to all footpaths and bridleways in the District and he would have no compunction about issuing fixed penalty notices to such offenders, even on unfenced footpaths/bridleways crossing open land.
The Parish Council has resolved to publicise this information and to arrange for the appropriate signs to be put up at the two sites mentioned above.
All owners are urged to clean up after your dog using a plastic bag which is then disposed of in a bin - please not just dropped in the hedge or grass which is even worse than not cleaning up at all!
David Peters, Chair of Natland Parish Council