Ombudsman dismisses complaints about Cork City Council vehicles parking on footpaths

Cycling campaigner has been raising the issue of blocking pedestrian or bicycle movement with the council for years and lodged a formal complaint

Cork City Council vehicles have been parkjng in cycle lanes.

A cycling campaigner who has made dozens of complaints to Cork City Council about its vehicles parking in bike lanes or on footpaths has vowed to continue challenging the council on it after his complaint to the Ombudsman was dismissed.

Sam McCormack said he is also considering an appeal against the decision.

“I am disappointed and found some of the wording in the council’s response of concern,” he said.

“I am not happy with the way it was dealt with and I am considering an appeal if that’s an option.

“This parking behaviour is in some cases damaging the very infrastructure the council is tasked with protecting.

It’s not setting a good example either. People see council vans and trucks parked on footpaths or in bike lanes and say ‘well, if the council lads are doing it, it’s ok for me to do it too.

“The council should be making an effort to resolve this issue rather than fobbing me off. I’m going to keep highlighting it.” 

Mr McCormack, who has been raising the issue regularly with the council for years, lodged a formal complaint with the Ombudsman alleging that the council had failed to address the problem which he said was blocking pedestrian or bicycle movement.

In its response to the Ombudsman, the council reviewed 192 emails it received from Mr McCormack over the past two years and found 34 related to the parking of council vehicles.

They do not relate to 34 separate incidents - in some cases, there are several emails about the same parking issue, and in other cases, it turned out that council vehicles were not involved.

Appropriate action

The council said all were investigated and action was taken when deemed appropriate.

It said its vehicles often park in such locations to facilitate essential works and that it stressed to its drivers the need for them to park appropriately at all times.

But it said each case is unique and in many cases, the driver chose a particular parking spot for legitimate reasons, including one case where a crew was responding to an emergency call about a damaged tree.

“For example, it is legal for city council vehicles to park on double yellow lines while undertaking certain tasks for a short period of time,” the council said.

 Cork City Council vehicles parked in cycle lanes.

The council did accept though that in other cases, there appeared to be no legitimate reason for the parking of the vehicle in a specific area, and the driver, when they could be identified, was spoken to about the issue.

The council also said that all road users should drive carefully and make a safe decision on how to proceed if they encounter an obstacle.

Mr McCormack said he was particularly concerned with this wording.

“That’s fine for people who can see the obstacle and take action to avoid it but what about people with restricted mobility, or those with a visual impairment who can’t see the obstacle?” he asked.

The Ombudsman described the council’s response as “reasonable” and said it dealt with Mr McCormack’s concerns “as appropriately as could be expected”.

It did not uphold Mr McCormack's complaint.