Issue - meetings

Decision:

Shopper Tariff

1.       Option B - to change with effect from 1 July 2022, the shopper tariff from £3 for up to 3 hours, £6 for 3-6 hours and £12 for more than 6 hours, to £3.60 for up to 3 hours, £7.20 for 3-6 hours and £14.40 for more than 6 hours (Bedford Rd MSCP, Castle MSCP, G Live, Millbrook, Tunsgate, York Rd MSCP)

2.       To include an additional transfer of £180,000 from the Car Parks Maintenance Reserve within the final General Fund Budget Report to be presented to the Council at the Budget Meeting on 9 February 2022 to cover the revenue implications of the delayed implementation of the Shopper Tariff.

Short-stay Tariff

3.       Option D - to consolidate the tariff in the car parks charged by the hour from £1.30 and £1.50 per hour, and to change them to £1.80 per hour for the first 3 hours, and £2.30 per hour for subsequent hours (Bedford Surface, Bright Hill, Commercial Rd 2, High Street, Lawn Road (Saturday only), Leapale Road MSCP, Old Police Station, Millmead House (Saturday only), Portsmouth Rd (Saturday only), Robin Hood (Saturday only), St Joseph’s Church (Saturday only))

              Evening Tariff

4.       Option C - to change the evening charge from £1 (6pm-10pm Mon-Sat) to £1.50 (6pm-10pm Mon-Sun) (Bedford Rd MSCP, Bedford Surface, Bright Hill, Castle MSCP, Commercial Rd 2, G Live, High Street, Leapale Road MSCP, Millbrook, Old Police Station, Portsmouth Rd, Tunsgate and York Rd MSCP)

              Sunday Tariff

5.       Option C - to change the Sunday charge from £1.50 for up to 3 and £2.50 for 3-6 hours, to £2.00 for up to 3 and £4.00 for 3-6 hours (Bedford Rd MSCP, Bedford Surface, Bright Hill, Castle MSCP, Commercial Rd 2, G Live, High Street, Lawn Road, Leapale Road MSCP, Millmead House, Millbrook, Old Police Station, Portsmouth Rd, Hood, St Joseph’s Church, Tunsgate and York Rd MSCP)

       Car Park Specific Tariffs

6.       Farnham Rd MSCP – change pre-7am rate from £0.90 per hour to £1.00 per hour, standard rate (7am-7pm) from £1.00 per hour to £1.10 per hour, and (7pm-7am) rate from £0.10 per hour to £0.20 per hour.

7.       Guildford Park – change Monday to Friday tariff from £5.00 per day to £6.00 per day, and Saturday tariff from £1.00 per day to £2.00 per day.

8.       Shalford Park & Walnut Tree Close – change Monday to Friday tariff from £3.20 per day to £4.00 per day.

9.       Ash Vale Railway Station - change Monday to Friday tariff from £1.00 per day to £1.50 per day.

Traffic Regulation Order

10.   To formally advertise the amendment to the Traffic Regulation Order for the purpose of the following changes:

(a)   To make the EVCP bays enforceable and available only to vehicles being charged.

(b)   To replace the “Green Scheme” with a pay by phone solution that provides greater benefit for All Electric vehicle users in the pay and display car parks, equivalent to a tariff reduction of £0.20 per hour; and

(c)   To make the  ...  view the full decision text for item 64

In the absence of the Lead Councillor for Environment the report was introduced by the Lead Councillor for Economy.

The Executive received a report that updated on progress made delivering the recommendations that had been agreed at the meeting held on 23 November 2020 and included a summary of work outlining environmental initiatives. The report set out how the service had been supporting key workers, businesses and residents through the pandemic. Furthermore, the pandemic had forced a reconsideration of how to best manage the Council’s parking resources in response to the needs of the town and proposed recommendations on pricing strategy that would make better use of any spare capacity within the town centre car parks, whilst encouraging the use of the park and ride to increase revenue.  With this in mind, the report set out the recommended tariffs for 2022-23.

There was a proposal to increase the Shopper Tariff by 60 pence for 3 hours; a 30 pence increase for short stay of one hour; evening and Sunday tariffs to increase by 50 pence an hour. In addition, there some specific tariffs set out for particular car parks. A further proposal was for the Executive to agree to make a Traffic Regulation Order to support the proper enforcement of electrical vehicle bays; replace the “Green Scheme” with a pay by phone solution and implement the necessary arrangements for the car parks in the town that were due to close during the coming year as a part of development of North Street. Apart from the revenue income the reasons for the recommendations were to support a varied option for parking in the town at a number of price points, to support the users of electrical vehicles and to influence residents and visitors to make more sustainable choices.

The Supplementary Information Sheet set out a change to the published recommendations that would see a three month delay in the implementation of the Shopper Tariff increase following consultation with Experience Guildford. The delay would soften the impact of the rise and also provide additional time for park and ride bus service providers Stagecoach to regain their full fleet of drivers following the impact of the pandemic on staff levels.

At its meeting held on 13 January 2022, the Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (EAB) reviewed the off-street parking pricing structure proposals which formed part of the Off-Street Parking Business Plan 2022-23. Councillor Angela Goodwin chaired the meeting and was in remote attendance to sum up the findings of the EAB which were also set out in a minute extract in the Supplementary Information Sheet. Councillor Goodwin highlighted the key recommendations from the EAB including working to continue the Park and Ride services and a proposal that the Executive consider a special pricing tariff to support attendance at special occasions such as the forthcoming Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.

It was noted that consultation processes should be improved and that the late consultation with Experience Guildford was regrettable. The Leader of the Council expressed his  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64

At its meeting held on 13 January 2022, the Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board (EAB) was invited to consider a report reviewing the off-street parking pricing structure proposals which formed part of the Off-Street Parking Business Plan 2022-23.

The Programme Manager (Car Parks) introduced the report for the EAB’s consideration.  The following points arose from related questions, comments and discussion for forwarding to the Executive:

1.           With regard to integration of on and off-street parking, the latter had charged for parking in the evenings and on Sundays for many years whilst there had been no similar parking controls for on-street parking resulting in visitors parking on residential streets around the town centre to avoid charges at these times.  This had caused issues for residents and was one of the key drivers for the recent introduction of on-street charges.

2.           A move to more sustainable transport was sought and one of the few mechanisms available to the Council to influence behaviours was through its off-street car park pricing policy.

3.           A reduction in demand for parking following the pandemic had not been witnessed other than in the long stay York Road and Farnham Road Car Parks which were not currently utilised to full capacity.  A parking study undertaken by the Systra Group in 2020 had indicated that there was an increased demand for visitor parking and attention needed to be given to how best accommodate that within car parks or by encouraging alternative transport modes.  It was acknowledged that future residential developments in the Borough were likely to generate increased demand for parking and close working with Corporate Programmes colleagues was taking place regarding the timing of the redevelopment of car parks such as Bright Hill as this would have an impact on parking capacity and demand.  Possibly, the car parks with spare capacity could absorb some of the displaced parking demand.

4.           The Park and Ride service had been significantly impacted by the pandemic due to factors including a shortage of drivers and a significant reduction in use by commuters, one of largest user groups, owing to an increase in working from home.  Identified weaknesses with the Onslow site were the need to travel through a congested area to access the site and high operating expenses as the site was outside Council ownership.  Land on the approach to Shalford was suggested as a possible Park and Ride site which could cater for new developments planned in the Cranleigh area.  There was a possibility that the Artington site may be utilised as a bus depot enabling the parking of buses overnight when customer parking had ceased for the day.  It was felt that improvements to the Park and Ride sites would render them more attractive and increase their use alleviating congestion and pollution in the town centre.  Therefore officers were seeking to improve and develop the service which included identifying options and opportunities to secure more economical and better placed sites.  However, this was hampered by the cessation of related  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51

Decision:

(1)        To continue with the proposed short stay car park price increase as set out in option 2, but to authorise the Waste Parking and Fleet Services Manager, in consultation with the relevant lead councillor and Director of Resources, to review the charge in January 2021 and to cancel the increase if the recovery from Covid is likely, in their view, to be negatively affected by this increase.

(2)        To make no changes to Sunday tariffs for all car parks.

(3)        To reallocate Leapale Road as “short stay” and bring prices into line with neighbouring short stay surface car parks.

(4)        To introduce a new shopper offer, Monday to Saturday, based on the flat rate option 3 in paragraph 12.3 of the report submitted to the Executive.

(5)        To note the performance of Parking Services in 2019-20, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

(6)        To continue with cash car park payments for the present but keep under review as part of ongoing developments in this area.

Reasons:

·       To respond to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic;

·       To support local business and residents

·       To support the recovery and stabilisation of the town

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

Option 1 - No increase on pricing, no change to currentsituation. If Option 1 was chosen, the forecasted 2020-21 budget for off-street would have been circa £8,366,420, which is based on actuals from 2019-20, prior to Covid19 impact. However, Covid19 and uncertainty over the speed and scale of economic recovery makes it difficult to predict the likely revenues with any degree of certainty.

Option 2 – to further increase the rate for the 4 most convenient surface car parks in the town centre by 10 pence per hour for the first 3 hours, it is estimated to generate a 3.2% increase in revenue of £41,000 per annum if 2019/20 figures are used to predict. 

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None

The Executive considered a report updating on progress made in delivering the recommendations approved in January 2020, highlighting the improvements completed and the work being progressed to support green initiatives with regard to the climate emergency and sustainability.

Since March, the town centre had seen a reduction in footfall due to the impact of the Covid19 pandemic. Consequently, a rethink of parking services management was considered appropriate by bringing forward decisions on pricing strategy to increase confidence, footfall and revenue. It was proposed that new ‘Shopper’ car parks be designated with rates adjusted to provide greater value for those visitors spending longer periods in the town centre to shop and eat, whilst at the higher price point discouraging commuters from using the spaces all day. Commuter designated car parks would have a more appropriate pricing strategy. Approval was sought for changes to pricing from mid-December 2020.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic alongside changing commuting behaviours including increased home-working on the Park and Ride service was noted. However, it was further noted that the Park and Ride service provided the least expensive of all parking options for commuters and those visiting the town centre. Longer term plans for the Park and Ride service would be a matter for all stakeholders including Stagecoach and Surrey County Council and it was acknowledged that current circumstances were extraordinary and not a basis upon which to make long term decisions. Park and Ride services would play a part in the regeneration plans of the Borough Council.

It was noted that the report had been considered by the Joint Executive Advisory Board and the comments and recommendations arising from that meeting were set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet. The Board had recommended the adoption of Option 3. The Executive

RESOLVED:

(1)       To continue with the proposed short stay car park price increase as set out in option 2, but to authorise the Waste Parking and Fleet Services Manager, in consultation with the relevant lead councillor and Director of Resources, to review the charge in January 2021 and to cancel the increase if the recovery from Covid is likely, in their view, to be negatively affected by this increase.

(2)       To make no changes to Sunday tariffs for all car parks.

(3)       To reallocate Leapale Road as “short stay” and bring prices into line with neighbouring short stay surface car parks.

(4)       To introduce a new shopper offer, Monday to Saturday, based on the flat rate option 3 in paragraph 12.3 of the report submitted to the Executive.

(5)       To note the performance of Parking Services in 2019-20, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

(6)       To continue with cash car park payments for the present but keep under review as part of ongoing developments in this area.

Reasons:

·        To respond to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic;

·        To support local business and residents

·        To support the recovery and stabilisation of the town