Issue - decisions

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.

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