A citizen reported this to The Parking Business Team on 2nd July
Sent to Bristol City Council 3 hours, 35 minutes later. FixMyStreet ref: 9815925.
The citizen made a complaint and mentioned that the moped has been blocking a car parking space for months and the owner already owns two cars and taking up a third space on a busy residential street (Fernbank Road) in Redland. After speaking to the neighbourhood enforcement team, they have discovered that the tax and mot are not valid from 2012 and advised to do a fix my street request.
Updates
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A new enquiry has been raised for this issue.
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The issue is still ongoing as of today (3 August 2026). A silver moped/scooter continues to be left for multiple days at a time in a public parking bay on Fernbank Road, Redland (outside the Victorian house near the lamppost, approximately outside number 17). This prevents other road users from using the bay. The same pattern has been occurring for more than three months. Additional dated photographs are available showing the moped both in the bay and temporarily stored in the front garden of the property. It has previously been indicated that the practice would stop if a formal letter was received from the council. Please continue to investigate this ongoing obstruction of a public parking bay.
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Greetings, neighbours & Council staff. I’ve been the owner and rider of the silver scooter WX05JCV for the past 20-odd years: in recent months reaction to the parking of this vehicle seems to have created some “froth” on FixMyStreet. I thank the fiancée of one of the complainants for drawing these reports to my attention, since I had no idea such comments had been made.
As far as I am concerned I am just parking my scooter on the road, completely legally. I am very surprised to hear that the issue has apparently been raised with the police as well as the Council. FWIW I have recently submitted a Council complaint myself (ref: 78422329) outlining the situation and asking for their expert guidance: perhaps these matters can be considered together. I have also asked that my contact details be passed on to anyone who has put in a complaint, with the aim of starting a dialogue to discuss concerns and correct misunderstanding/invalid assumptions.
The coherence and integrity of the complaints is not helped by completely incorrect, scurrilous claims recorded in FixMyStreet ref: 9815925, Mon 20 Jul 2026. The entry states:
“The citizen made a complaint and mentioned that the moped has been blocking a car parking space for months and the owner already owns two cars and taking up a third space on a busy residential street (Fernbank Road) in Redland. After speaking to the neighbourhood enforcement team, they have discovered that the tax and mot are not valid from 2012 and advised to do a fix my street request”.
This contains multiple untruths and a simple online check would have demonstrated this. My scooter is, and always has been, taxed, insured, and (vehicle age appropriately) MoT’d. It has never been in any particular bay space continuously for months, as seems to be implied (day or so at most), and I have never taken up a third full space in a bay on the road, as claimed. Not that that would be a parking violation - the Council generously permits motorcycles to park in bays such as ours, without time limit.
Looking at the reports & photographs plus a couple of anonymous notes I have received ( presumably from the same complainants) the accusations seem to boil down to:
You have a scooter and you sometimes park it in the road right outside your house You take up a full car space when you park your scooter You move your scooter when your wife comes home in her car so she can park
Yes, of course: naturally I prefer to park as close to my home as possible, so does my wife. Typically, there are other spaces available nearby when I do park (some of the photos actually show this). Our vehicles will often be - but by no means always (which would be the case if we actually did set out to permanently reserve a space) - parked outside our home. When someone needs to load and unload as frequently as we do, especially someone elderly, and with impaired mobility and other physical impediments, it really helps to be close by. Surely none of this is contentious?
Yes: in practice my scooter, like any other motorcycle, will inevitably take up say 60-70% of a car-sized space in a bay when parked with consideration for other people who have a vehicle already in the bay. When I move my scooter, it then frees up a full car space, rather than leave an awkward gap that no car will fit into. I believe this actually improves parking capacity in the road overall. It also helps avoid the situation where vehicles ‘squeeze in’ and overhang the end of the bay, encroaching on (eg) someone’s driveway.
Yes, I will usually move my scooter when my wife comes home, this isn’t a coincidence. The need for having the scooter parked outside typically goes away when my wife arrives back home, because she can provide transport instead of me having to rely on the scooter. Note we thereby also avoid taking up three spaces. I hope this demonstrates why the tensions and finger-pointing in this matter, as expressed on FixMyStreet (and also when being accosted -even obstructed - on the pavement) are inappropriate. Sadly, they can easily arise when some observer makes an arbitrary judgement, absent, or in ignorance of, the full picture.
To the complainants: please expand on who exactly is being hurt here and in what way. As I say, there are typically other spaces available nearby when I park my scooter. I would welcome hearing details about any actual specific examples of how my parking choices have negatively impacted someone else. My impression is that at worst someone may have had to park a little further away - but by all means correct my assumption if you have experience that contradicts my belief.
As indicated previously, I am seeking the Council’s advice. Once I have an opportunity (hopefully) to describe the full situation, and explain to them my reasons for parking in the road, I will comply with the Council’s determination once that is reached. I trust those complaining will do likewise.
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