Traffic Wardens Matter

4.20.12pm GMT Tue 30th Jan 2007

Statistics from South Wales Police have shown a significant reduction in the number of traffic wardens in the Cardiff area over the last five years, a local Assembly Member has revealed.

The Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Cardiff Central Jenny Randerson discovered from Welsh Liberal Democrat research that the total number of traffic wardens in the South Wales Police area has fallen from 100 in March 2002 to 58 in September 2006. In Cardiff, over the same period, there was a reduction from 55 to 40.

"Problems with parking are the source of large numbers of problems in Cardiff Central," said Jenny Randerson. "However, when we put in new residents' parking schemes or refer particular issues to the police they do not have the resources to deal with them. Having seen these figures I now know why. It seems that the Police Authority have been running down this aspect of their work for too long.

"Cardiff Council is now going down the route of a taking on traffic enforcement for itself. They have been forced into this position by the fact that the present service is massively under-resourced.

"Effective parking enforcement makes a big difference to quality of life and the reduction in wardens is far from a good thing. Traffic wardens matter!"

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