A CRUNCH meeting hopes to put an end to the parking anarchy ruling the streets of Amersham and Chesham. JAMES COX reports on the options available to the authorities.

THE days of motorists getting away with parking illegally could be numbered if highways chiefs back a new scheme to end Chiltern district's "parking anarchy".

For years, cars parked illegally on double yellow lines, grass verges and access roads have been a source of misery for residents and traders.

But on Friday, Chiltern district councillors will meet with counterparts from Buckinghamshire County Council to thrash out a system to clamp down on illegal parking for good.

The issue was first discussed two years ago when Chiltern District Council vowed to tackle the worsening parking problem by setting a up a Special Parking Area (SPA) for the whole district.

Under the new SPA, on-street parking roadside parking outside public car parks would be decriminalised and come under the regulation of the district council rather than the police.

Cllr Don Phillips, chairman of Chiltern District Council, is spearheading the introduction of the new system to combat what he describes as "parking anarchy on the streets".

Thames Valley Police chiefs have admitted it does not have enough officers or traffic wardens to enforce parking laws effectively and Cllr Phillips believes the district council has to take control of the situation.

He explained: "We do not wish to extend parking controls in the district, we have no intention of doing that, we simply wish to enforce the existing rules and regulations.

"We have a limited number of streets but we seem to have an unlimited amount of vehicles. It is very frustrating and we want to get this right."

Chiltern District Council wants to run the new scheme by employing its own staff to enforce parking regulations and hand out penalty tickets to motorists who choose to flout parking restrictions.

But Cllr Phillips is quick to distance the proposed SPA from the controversial and hugely unpopular positive parking scheme in High Wycombe which saw the arrival of roadside parking metres and resident's permits.

He said: "We have learnt a great deal from Wycombe's experience.

"We have no intention of putting parking meters up or bringing in residential parking permits."

To go ahead with the scheme, Chiltern District Council must secure approval from the county council, which is the highways authority, before an order is then set before Parliament.

Old Amersham resident Harry Morton, chairman of the Amersham Society, is backing the plans as he believes the scheme is flexible enough to protect historical areas, like the High Street in Old Amersham, while allowing them to accommodate parked cars.

Mr Morton, of Rectory Hill, added: "The parking restrictions and regulations planned are nowhere near like those in Wycombe.

"If they introduce fairly draconian measures this would work as a disadvantage to residents who would be less advantaged than they are at the moment.

"One of the big arguments against introducing something more is the proliferation of parking meters and signs all of which would have a very detrimental affect of the appearance of the High Street."

But for others in the Chiltern district the proposed scheme does not go far enough.

Eric Springate, chairman of Amersham and District Chamber of Commerce, would like to see a one-way system introduced through the centre of Amersham-on-the-Hill with one half of the road given up to parking for shoppers.

Mr Springate explained: "With this one-way system and the SPA together we would have the right situation.

"At the moment parking is a nonsense, a complete fiasco.

"In Hill Avenue you get people parking in spaces all day which stops shoppers who come and cannot park. At the moment there's double parking going on."

Ken Hulme, Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Chesham and Amersham, wants to see the introduction of roadside parking meters throughout the district.

Mr Hulme, who lives in Chesham, said: "Illegal parking is endemic the rules are ignored completely. People park on pavements, grass verges anywhere they can.

"There's no enforcement of parking any more in town centres.

"Parking is out of control because the system is a shambles.

"I support ticket machines on streets at very low rates because this would discourage commuter parking.

"We are not talking about large amounts of money but enough so there is some sort of regulation just a few pence. I'm not talking about trying to squeeze money out of people."

The introduction of an SPA in Chiltern district may only go ahead if it operates on a self-funding basis.

If all goes well at today's meeting the SPA could find its way onto the streets by October this year.