Uccle (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A group in Uccle counted 175 illegally parked cars in 2 hours, blaming weak enforcement. Mayor Boris Dilliès denies accusations of limiting fines. Uccle had 7,254 parking violations in 2023, far more than the Montgomery zone (2,788).
A group in Uccle, municipality in Brussels-Capital region, Belgium, is speaking out about traffic violations. They are especially worried about cars parking on sidewalks where they should not. In just 2 hours, they counted 175 cars breaking the rules. The group says the police in Uccle do not do enough to stop this problem. They claim that officers do not give enough fines for these violations.
They even accuse Mayor Boris Dilliès (MR) of telling the police not to fine these drivers. However, both the mayor and the local police zone Marlow, which is in charge of Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, and Oudergem, strongly deny this. They say the claims are not true.
Is Uccle facing a parking and public space crisis?
Mayor Boris Dilliès has been involved in several disputes about mobility and public spaces in Uccle. One major issue was when the city removed the newly installed bicycle parking on Chaussée de Waterloo, a regional road. Brussels Mobility, the regional transport authority, sued the city for this decision. A court ruled against Uccle and ordered the bike racks to be put back within 5 days.
The city also faced financial penalties for any delays. The judge said the mayor’s actions were a serious violation of public order because the city removed infrastructure that belonged to the regional government. The mayor also faced criticism for how the police handled a protest in front of the Israeli embassy in Uccle.
The police used force to break up the protest, and people later filed a class-action lawsuit against the city, the police, and the mayor. The lawsuit claimed the police used too much force. Mayor Dilliès defended the officers, saying the protest was not allowed and that the police acted within the law.
Parking violations are on the rise in Uccle. Federal police data shows that 7,254 parking tickets were given out in 2023, an increase from 6,822 in 2022. The data comes from the Marlow police zone, which covers Uccle, Watermael-Boitsfort, and Oudergem. People are still parking illegally, even though there are calls for more enforcement.
There are far more parking offenses in Uccle compared to a neighborhood with a similar population. In the Montgomery police zone, in which Etterbeek, Sint-Pieters-Woluwe, and Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe are located, there were a mere 2,788 parking offenses in 2023, fewer than half the number that occurred in the Marlow zone. Some Uccle residents claim there are many parking offenses and they’re not being treated adequately.
