A review of parking across the Dorset Council area including Purbeck, is recommending to recruit more civil enforcement officers – the team who issue parking tickets on yellow lines – after it was discovered the council employed fewer than other counties.
The issue, along with other parking matters, was discussed at a meeting of the Dorset Council’s place and resources overview committee on Thursday 9th July 2026.
On the lower High Street in Swanage, those with Blue Badges may park on the double yellow lines but others park there too
“Higher levels of dangerous parking”
In the parking review report it identified the problem:
“Dorset Council has significantly fewer civil enforcement officers than nearby authorities, potentially resulting in lower levels of parking compliance, in turn leading to higher levels of dangerous parking.”
It recommended that Dorset Council should expand the number of permanent staff alongside exploring options to further increase the team in periods of high demand:
“Increase the size of the enforcement team to improve highway safety, reduce congestion and to improve compliance in car parks. The size (of the team) should take into consideration seasonal fluctuations and upcoming new legislation relating to moving traffic offences and pavement parking.”
More enforcement officers could mean more fines
Parking on pavements could get £130 fine
Although not discussed in this meeting, new legislation which came into power in May 2026, gives councils across England the power to introduce pavement parking bans and enforce them using civil enforcement officers.
More legislation is expected later in 2026 which will enable fines up to £130 to be issued for those who unnecessarily obstruct the pavement. Councils will be able to introduce exemptions for specific streets where partial pavement parking is genuinely necessary to allow traffic to flow.
The new powers have yet to be adopted by Dorset Council but are likely to be introduced, along with other local authorities towards the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027.
If Dorset Council does bring in fines for parking on the pavement, there’s not much point unless it has a team to enforce the rules.
Parking overnight is not allowed but can be a problem along this stretch of the lower High Street
“You have to have robust enforcement”
Councillor Simon Gibson said:
“I’ve always argued that if we’re going to have a policy, you have to have robust enforcement, and you’ve got to have enough people to be able to do it.
“So from my perspective, even if we have to put a bit of investment into enforcement, I hugely welcome it. It’s got my complete support.”
The 2023 parking machines are likely to get an upgrade
New advanced parking machines proposed
The parking review also recommended considering upgrading its parking machines for ones which can produce better live data.
Although new ones were installed across Dorset in 2023, technology has already improved and could save the council money in the long term.
The report says that although the upgrade would cost £250,000, the new machines would display the parking tariffs on a screen in real time, so would save the council approximately £125,000 every time tariffs were to change in future years.
New features on the machines also offer the opportunity to vary the tariffs in response to demand or for local resident discounts to be applied. A user could select a resident discount button and then enter their registration number linked to their address.
Not everyone follows the parking rules along Shore Road
Discounts for low emission cars discarded
One possibility was thrown out, and that was to offer parking discounts for those with low emission vehicles. The report said:
“To promote greener vehicles and improve air quality in towns, the council should consider implementing emissions-based parking discounts for low/ zero emission vehicles and could possibly consider surcharging for high emission vehicles.”
However the majority of councillors disagreed about introducing parking charges based on emissions at this time, as electric cars were still expensive to buy.
Councillor Sherry Jespersen said:
“I think that would be discriminatory against people on low incomes and people in lower cost housing and people in social housing which might involve flats where they have to pay for charging their car on the public tariff.
“I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t get through our equalities impact assessment, so I would like to see that taken out of this report. I think it’s inappropriate.”
Chairing the committee, Councillor Ryan Hope said he would prefer to see parking discounts for residents to encourage them to shop locally and reduce emissions that way:
“I think that will go down very, very well with the public. And many of us in this chamber stood on a promise to look after locals on parking…
“I think that’s personally what I’d rather see to reduce emissions and travel, rather than the discount scheme for the lower emissions.
“Because the reality is, some of our first-time drivers can’t afford anything more than a clapped-out 20-year-old car that’s a high polluter. Or even some of our not-so-new drivers, looking at Councillor Brown’s face when he talked about shopping for cars earlier!”
It was clarified that if electric cars became more affordable in the future then the policy could be reviewed in five years or so.
The parking rules along Shore Road
Driver data
New data about parking from the machines introduced in 2023 has prompted this review, as officers now have a record of how and where drivers park.
While the report does not include setting the price of parking, councillors will be keen to avoid any outcry over changes to parking, following the sudden hike in parking charges by the previous Dorset Council administration in April 2023.
The 72 percent increase for car parking in Dorset’s coastal towns was very unpopular and was blamed for discouraging visiting tourists and reducing footfall to cafes and shops, especially in Weymouth.
This parking report will now go to the Cabinet to be ratified and if it’s approved, it will form the basis of a future action plan on parking.
This only applies to Dorset Council car parks and on street parking, and not car parks in Swanage which are run by Swanage Town Council and who employ its own separate enforcement team.
More information
- Read the Dorset Council parking review report
