A MEETING has been called by ward councillors to discuss car parking in cycle lanes in Boscombe.

Councillor Andy Jones called for the meeting with BCP Council’s portfolio holder for sustainability and transport, Mike Greene, to discuss illegal parking on Christchurch Road.

Cllr Jones said the situation has got worse since the issue was highlighted in the Daily Echo last July.

“It’s really frustrating, which is why I’ve asked for a meeting with councillor Greene on site, along with councillor [George] Farquhar to try and work out a way forward,” councillor Jones said.

“It’s all very well spending all this money implementing cycle lanes, which of course is a good thing, but if people can’t use them, what’s the point?”

Cllr Jones indicated that he and councillor Farquhar had had consistent complaints from residents about it.

“Personally, I think there should be cameras there, I’ve made that clear to him [councillor Greene] before,” he said.

“Unless we’re going to tackle it by enforcement, or provide some sort of protection by bollards or similar, I can’t really see how we’re ever going to resolve the issue.”

Dean Hawthorne is a resident in the area, and sees vehicles parked in the cycle lanes every time he drives down the road. He said there is an opportunity being missed in the area to improve the cycling infrastructure to boost local business and improve pollution.

“They’ve put something in place that isn’t working for a number of reasons. There is a legitimate reason why we need to encourage more people to cycle," he said.

“I don’t even own a bike; I drive a van. On paper I’m the cyclist’s nightmare, but I’m not, I can see the absolute benefits of having decent cycling infrastructure.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said that they were aware of the ongoing issues with illegal parking on the cycle lanes, and that residents can report incidents directly to them.

“To address the issue our parking enforcement team is stepping up additional visits to these area as part of their daily patrols,” the spokesperson said.

“We will continue to patrol Christchurch Road on a daily basis to deter drivers from parking in contravention and to enforce penalty charge notices to drivers that do not comply.”