Council considers £400 charge for white lines

A council is considering introducing a £400 charge for residents who want H-bar road markings painted outside their homes.

The white lines, which look like an elongated H, are advisory and not legally enforceable, and are often used to discourage parking near dropped kerbs and driveways.

Lincolnshire Council Council, which currently funds the markings itself at a cost of about £25,000 a year, said the proposed fee would cover installation and administration costs.

Critics said the charge could unfairly affect disabled residents, with a proposed online application process leading to insufficient site assessments and more disputes over parking.

The proposals were discussed by the council's highways and transport committee at a meeting on Monday.

Councillor Charlotte Vernon argued the proposals could be "discriminatory" towards people with disabilities and called for either an exemption or reduced fee for blue badge holders.

"For them to have to pay for £400 to ensure that they can get out and in of their property, I think is wrong. I also feel £400 seems extremely high."

Meanwhile, councillor Richard Wright said the online application system could lead to officers undertaking fewer site visits.

"If this stays that we don't have site visits and actually it's just a self-service system, then I'm afraid I'll be voting against this," he said.

Wright said the process could potentially lead to more disputes, especially in small villages with narrow roads, with those able to afford the fee applying "regardless of whether it's the right thing to do".

However, Adam Round, head of design services at LCC, said the proposed online application form would provide a central location and a more standardised process for officers to review applications.

Nicole Hilton, assistant director of communities at LCC, added: "I absolutely get and understand that they do cause some issues, but having one outside your house is more about an advisory situation because they're not legally enforceable."

The committee agreed to consider the proposals again at a later date once officers had produced a more detailed report addressing the concerns raised, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

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