Agenda item

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 necessary amendments, as and when required, to reflect the permanent closure of Commercial Road 2, Guildford Park and Old Police Station car parks, which are all due to close in 2022-23.

and if any representations are received, to authorise the Parking Lead, Head of Technical and Operational Services and Director of Service Delivery to consider these in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Environment.

EV Strategy

11.   To agree that an EV strategy be developed to define the Council’s role in this developing sector.

       Annual Report

12.   Noted the performance of Parking Services in 2020-21, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.

Reasons:

Town centre parking:

1.     is an enabler to around £150-200m of retail activity within the local economy, as well as supporting a wide variety of other business needs (Systra Parking Study 2020),

2.     pricing is the primary mechanism with which to modify user behaviour, and in line with the Council’s strategic aims, encourage more sustainable transportation modes, such as the Park and Ride, public transport, cycling and walking,

3.     generates a significant surplus with which to maintain and improve the parking facilities, and more generally, support the Council’s budget.

Other options considered and rejected by the Executive:

Tariff option:

A.    No Change – provides no additional encouragement for visitors to consider sustainable transport alternatives and would not bring income back to 2019-20 levels, based on anticipated utilisation

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

None.

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 apologies to the Chief Executive, Amanda Masters. It was further noted that parking charges were paid for by retail and hospitality employees as well as shoppers and visitors. In order for town centre businesses to recruit and retain staff the parking offer needed to be viable. It was suggested that provision of contract parking spaces should be discussed with local businesses as a way forward. The meeting heard that least expensive parking offer for the town centre was the park and ride service.

Unlike many other towns and cities Guildford did retain ownership of its car parks which was beneficial for local business in that there could be a partnership approach to setting tariffs.

The Executive,

RESOLVED:

That the following revised tariffs be approved:

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 to 6 hours and £12 for more than 6 hours, to £3.60 for up to 3 hours, £7.20 for 3 to 6 hours and £14.40 for more than 6 hours (Bedford Road 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 to 10pm Mon-Sat) to £1.50 (6pm to 10pm Mon to 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 to 6 hours, to £2.00 for up to 3 and £4.00 for 3 to 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 to 7pm) from £1.00 per hour to £1.10 per hour, and (7pm to 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 necessary amendments, as and when required, to reflect the permanent closure of Commercial Road 2, Guildford Park and Old Police Station car parks, which are all due to close in 2022/23.

and if any representations are received, to authorise the Parking Lead, Head of Technical and Operational Services and Director of Service Delivery to consider these in consultation with the Lead Councillor for Environment.

EV Strategy

11.   To agree that an EV strategy be developed to define the Council’s role in this developing sector.

Annual Report

12.   Noted the performance of Parking Services in 2020/21, as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report.

Reasons:

Town centre parking:

1.    Is an enabler of around £150 to £200 million of retail activity within the local economy, as well as supporting a wide variety of other business needs (Systra Parking Study 2020),

2.    Pricing is the primary mechanism with which to modify user behaviour, and in line with the Council’s strategic aims, encourage more sustainable transportation modes, such as the Park and Ride, public transport, cycling and walking,

3.    Generates a significant surplus with which to maintain and improve the parking facilities, and more generally, support the Council’s budget.