Agenda item

The Executive Advisory Board received a report and presentation regarding an action plan designed to resolve a number of land management issues experienced on Shalford Common.  The Board was asked to provide their views on the proposals that would be put forward in the consultation.  The outcome of the proposed action plan sought to ensure the Council as a landowner fulfilled its statutory obligations; to protect the common land, to use as a public open space, to provide safe access for recreation but also to recognise the increasing demands for car parking at Shalford Common and identify measures for its effective management.  These measures would be agreed by the Executive at their meeting on 26 November 2019.

Seven priority areas had been identified so to pursue a consistent approach in the land management of Shalford Common for the future.  Approval would need to be sought from the Secretary of State under S38 of the Commons Act 2006 to undertake certain works, including the creation of car parks, provided the works were for the benefit of the Common. 

The seven priority areas included:

1a. Huber’s Garage/Mitchell’s Row

1b. Cricket Club Parking

2.    King’s Road Shop Front

3.    Pound Place

4.    Parrot Pub Car Park

5a. Access track to Dagley Lane Caravan Park

5b. Recycling Car Park

6.    Dagley Lane/Juniper Terraces

7.    Approaches to Ashley Gardens and Christmas Hill

The Board noted the risks and issues associated with the options proposed for each area which included local opposition to parking enforcement or provision of designated parking areas, enforcement was resource intensive, displacement of parking problem to other areas, costs and the availability of parking areas becoming reduced owing to the presence of long-term parked cars.

Prior to consideration of this item, the Board invited Councillor Sue Dunford to speak for three minutes on behalf of Shalford Parish Council who stated the following:

·         Shalford Parish Council welcomed the report and had consulted with the residents on this issue.  There were lots of small cottages in Shalford and the residents of which often had two cars.  The residents were primarily concerned that any parking restrictions implemented must not affect the trade of small businesses which the local community relied upon.  It was recommended that the recycling car park could be used to provide additional parking spaces which would be very useful owing to its position opposite the shops.  Shalford Parish Council recommended that shop owners were included in any consultation.

The following points arose from related questions and discussion:

·         The primary users who parked at Shalford Common used it for either accessing Shalford Train Station or for the local shops. 

·         Need to outline a list of parking restriction options as part of the consultation.

·         Need to think carefully about enforcing time restricted parking in areas where small businesses operate that would be affected by reduced footfall.

·         It was confirmed that officers had consulted with Huber’s Garage.  The main issue remained that two properties on the access track experienced problems with cars parked on the track which thereby restricted access to these properties.  Time restricted access would not resolve the issue in this scenario.

·         Need to ensure that the consultation included seeking the views of local shop owners.

·         Need to apply time-restricted parking areas where appropriate whilst also ensuring that links to existing public transport networks, car club schemes and bicycle hire schemes were clearly signposted.

·         With the advent of driverless cars, less cars were anticipated to be on the road in the future; however, this was not likely to be in place for another ten years.

·         Need to profile the people who used Shalford Common to park on, which would enable the Council to understand specific user needs, so to get parking restrictions right that did not undermine local businesses and supported local community needs. 

·         The Board proposed speaking to private landowners so that car park prices could be lowered.  However, in the case of Shalford Station, it was confirmed that it only cost £2.00 a day to park. 

·         The Board noted that common land law prevented the use of residential parking schemes.  

·         The consultation should inform the process rather than be pre-determined.

·         Proposed installation of wooden posts to prevent people from parking on the common.

·         The Board queried whether the Secretary of State would give permission for exchange land for the purposes of deregistration and if preliminary discussions could be entered into now.

·         It was confirmed that the Secretary of State’s default position was that common land should not be lost from public use unless the residents were adequately consulted on a range of options. 

After a full discussion, the Board made the following recommendations to the Executive:

·         The people who parked on Shalford Common needed to be profiled to ensure that any parking restrictions applied was adequately married to the type of parking usage. 

·         The consultation needed to clearly define a range of options in relation to the proposed parking restrictions recommended for implementation.

·         The public needed to be clearly signposted to alternative modes of transport such as public transport, car club and bicycle hire schemes.