New powers to enforce moving traffic offences in North Northamptonshire

Overview

North Northamptonshire Council wants to be amongst the first local authorities outside London with powers to enforce moving traffic offences. Some of the benefits of these powers include:

• improve pedestrian and cyclist safety
• reduce congestion
• improve journey times for public transport
• improve safety around schools
• improve driver behaviour and therefore, road safety

The Department for Transport (DfT) have changed legislation to enable local authorities outside of London to apply for powers to enforce against moving traffic contraventions, which are currently only held by the Police.

This would allow enforcement to be undertaken using ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras.

The Council taking on these enforcement powers frees up capacity within the Police to focus on other issues.

Benefits include improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists as well as reducing congestion, which would in turn help improve air quality.

Offences that are covered are varied and include:

• ignoring no entry or no turning signs,
• entering yellow box junctions with no clear exit,
• stopping on school keep clears,
• driving where and when motor vehicles are prohibited, including HGVs,
• driving the wrong way up one-way streets or driving on routes for buses and taxis only

The new enforcement powers would apply across North Northamptonshire and add to the powers the council already has to address dangerous or illegal parking, and bus lane contravention.

Taking into account road safety data, the council, in collaboration with Northamptonshire Police, has identified some specific sites for which the powers would be of benefit.

Initially, these are all yellow box junctions that get repeatedly blocked which then prevents traffic from entering the main road even when traffic signals are on a green light. This then causes tailbacks, delays and frustration. The sites are:

• Kettering – London Road / St Mary’s Road
• Kettering – London Road / Bowling Green Road
• Rushden – High Street / Church Street
• Rushden – Newton Road / Rectory Road

If the Council were granted powers to enforce moving traffic offences, we will review other sites to identify if appropriate enforcement action would be of benefit.

Any future additional enforcement locations proposed will require their own separate public engagement before they can be implemented.

Future locations are likely to include HGV restrictions benefitting those communities where there are currently concerns with rat-running HGV through traffic.

Below is a full list of signs to help explain which moving traffic offences could be considered in future.

• Moving traffic offences signs

The council will use information gathered in the consultation to inform an application to the DfT.

Before a decision is made the council would also need the proposals to be approved by its Executive.

Have your say

Please tell us your views by completing this questionnaire. Alternatively, you can email or send your comments in by post using the contact details below.

Your feedback will be part of a report with many other people’s feedback, so you will not be personally identified.

Please contact us if you would like a copy of this questionnaire in another format (including paper or large print).

Email address: MTOPublicConsultation@northnorthants.gov.uk 

The deadline for completing this questionnaire is midnight Sunday, 18 December 2022.

Thank you for helping us by completing this questionnaire.

For information about how consultation and engagement responses are managed, please see the consultation and engagement privacy notice.