Traffic Orders...an explanation

Traffic Orders, Consolidated and Controlled Zones

1 Traffic Orders

These are made under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, in accordance with regulations SI. 1996/2489.

Traffic Orders can restrict waiting, loading, traffic routing, parking bays, speed limits etc.

They also can revoke previous Traffic Orders either wholly or in part.

They are ‘stand alone’ orders. After several years many of the early orders may have had most of their content revoked.

Checking out what is in currently in force can become extremely confusing.

2 Consolidated Orders

This is a means of tidying up of orders going back years which can be placed into a single order, thereby removing all of the previously revoked enactments.

Many of the earlier orders had similar preambles, such that now they can be combined into a few single orders with common preambles, the various waiting, loading, parking, traffic routing restrictions etc., being arranged in separate schedules as to their common requirement i.e (No Waiting Monday – Saturday 8am -6pm) all streets having a common restriction are listed and include the length of a particular street affected.

Consolidated orders can be made up from 2 or more previous orders, it is not necessary to include all previous orders. Once a consolidation order is made the previous ‘stand alone’ orders within the new order are revoked. As no new changes to the law are made they cannot be objected to. However when the consolidation is made all the traffic signs required by all of the enactments contained within the order must be in place before the order can come into force (in fact any traffic order of any description cannot come into force until traffic signs are lawfully displayed SI 1996/2489 regulation 18(1)(a) in accordance with regulation 21(3))

[Note- the legal requirement that all legal signs and road markings must be in position before the order can come into force.However afterwards, once in force, only a particular item within the order becomes unenforceable if a traffic sign/road marking is missing or not conforming to the statutory requirements, but not the remaining items within the order]

Sunderland previously had a Consolidated Order made in 1983 (shortly before leaving Tyne and Wear).
The present Consolidated Order (waiting and loading) 2003 was made on January 15th 2003 and allegedly came into force on 31st January 2003 (traffic signs/road markings for about 90% of the highways all over Sunderland were incorrect and still are). The order is in several Parts covering different areas of Sunderland.
A second consolidated Order was made in July 2003 covering ‘prescribed routes’ (no entries, left turns, buslanes etc.)
Both of these orders consolidated all previous orders up to 2001, those made after 2001 are still ‘stand alone’, some of which have already modified items within the new consolidated orders.

The ‘stand alone’ orders that existed prior to 2001 in the Central Area including the Consolidated Order 1983 referred to individual streets and the differing restrictions in those streets, some of these streets were outside of the alleged ‘Central Zone’ CPZ but all were included in the 2003 Consolidated Order but as independent items and their inclusion cannot imply that a CPZ order now exists or ever existed. Once a consolidated order is made ALL the previous orders containing the restrictions (now included in the new order) are REVOKED

[What happened between 1988 -2003 ?, when Northumbria Police were responsible for enforcement, there was no Controlled Parking Zone order, just the individual traffic regulation orders, which required proper signage. It is obvious the Police wilfully enforced traffic regulation orders that never had signs in accordance with RTRA 1984.( how many millions went to the treasury). I believe the citizens of Sunderland have been subject of a major conspiracy between the Police and the Council]

2. Controlled Parking Zone Orders

a) There are titled as ‘Controlled Parking’, ‘Meter Zone’, ‘Disc’ etc
Zones.
b) They are signed at all the entry points as appropriate using signs #663/ #663.1
incorporating details, in the prescribed manner, as outlined in the CPZ order. The entry sign
must be placed exactly and incorporate the information in the exact manner as prescribed.
c) CPZ orders enable a local authority to dispense with the need (and cost) to place 1 or more
upright signs on each highway where the restriction is common with that displayed on the
‘entry sign’, restrictions other than those displayed on the entry sign must be separately
signed as prescribed
d) CPZ orders differ from normal traffic orders.

Normal traffic order compositions start from the premise that a highway has NO
restrictions other than those previously made. New restrictions are then added to the order
and any remaining part of a highway not so restricted is assumed unrestricted (there is no legal requirement to state that a length of highway is unrestricted except in a CPZ order)

A CPZ traffic order composition starts from the premise that all streets are restricted under a ‘blanket restriction’ this being a single restriction of a particular nature (this is displayed on the entry sign). However many streets may have some or all of their lengths subject to restrictions different from those in the ‘blanket restriction’ these differences are then included separately as ‘exceptions’ (these must even include lengths of highway where no restrictions are to apply), any individual restriction must then be clearly stated, nature, length of highway, duration etc. (these exceptions must be separately signed where applicable see (c) above)

A CPZ order must also delete any item(s) contained in a previous order (or can revoke the whole order) that relates to an item(s) in the CPZ order (this also includes those items in a consolidated order).

A CPZ order can make completely new restrictions on a highway either within the ‘blanket restriction’ or in the ‘exceptions’(a ‘consolidated order’cannot make changes)

(There is a CPZ order in existence, ‘Park Lane Shopping Village’. This CPZ order, made in 2002, has numerous defects and can easily be challenged, nevertheless the order has been made (but unenforceable), the words “Controlled Zone” being included in the title. It is not included in the Consolidation Order 2003 as it was after the cut-off point of 2001)

Whilst a CPZ order may be included in a Consolidated Order, all the streets affected must be in an entirely separate Part and must include all the restrictions separately, in fact it is far more cumbersome than it would have been not to include it. They are best left as a ‘stand alone order’

Capt. D.W.Green
21.05.05