Agenda item

To consider a joint report by the Head of Highways & Environmental Services and the Traffic, Parking & Road Safety Manager (copy enclosed) which seeks members’ views on the methodology to be used to determine car parking charges in Denbighshire and the principles adopted for negotiating subsidy arrangements with town councils and/or other bodies.

9:35am – 10:30am

 

 

A report by the Head of Highways and Environment Services (HHES), which detailed the methodology utilised to determine appropriate car parking charges within Denbighshire, and the principles adopted for negotiating subsidy arrangements with Town Councils, and/or any other bodies, had been circulated with the papers for the meeting.

 

Councillor D.I. Smith introduced the report and explained that the setting of fees and charges had been delegated to Head of Service level, with an expectation that Members would be consulted about any contentious changes.

 

The Head of Environmental Services (HHES) explained that Denbighshire car parking charges had not been increased for 6 years and Appendix A provided details.  The shortfall experienced had been made-up by cross-subsidies from the general highways maintenance budget.  The implications of continued cross-subsidisation had been outlined in the report.

 

The Council’s budget setting process for 2016-17 incorporated the Freedoms and Flexibility process, and the current budgetary anomaly could be considered as part of that process.  Although Members would decide on general budget levels, it was not fair, or reasonable, to expect them to set charges in individual car parks, for individual durations of stay, hence the delegation of that function to officer level.  The charging arrangements would need to be developed in a logical and fair manner, and the mechanisms that had been used to get to a fair and logical charging positon, within the allocated budget, had been included in the report.

 

An outline of the fundamental principles used to determine charge levels had been provided together with:-

 

-                  Provision costs.

-                  Regulation of parking space availability.

-                  Pricing schedules.

-                  Proposed charging rates for Denbighshire.

-                  Resulting charge levels being very similar to those that applied Conwy.

-                  Analysis of Prestatyn Town Council’s proposal to subsidise Denbighshire car parks.

 

The following appendices, which had been included with the report, were summarised by the officers:-

 

A.  Detailed methodology

B.  Proposed charging rates

C.  Comparisons with other service providers and other Councils

D.  FAQ sheet prepared to address the topic of Town Council Subsidies

E.  Equalities Impact Assessment

 

The Chair referred to the purpose of the discussion, to examine the delivery of the service within the budget, and not to gain economic benefit through the implementation of an alternative car parking structure.  He felt there were two separate areas of discussion, and that they could be associated with regard to achieving the end goal.

 

The officers raised the following salient points and provided the following responses to issues raised by Members:-

 

·                  One of the aims of the review had been to stop people parking all day as this practice limited the number of parking spaces available for potential shoppers.

·                 Traffic and parking data details had been provided on the spread sheet, and officers outlined how the figures had been compiled.

·                 Reference was made to the misconception that increased charges discouraged visitors to the area.  Confirmation was provided that the retail offer had the greater impact on influencing choices made by service users.

·                 An outline was provided of the implementation process to address the problems identified.

·                 The importance of a balanced budget was highlighted, and confirmation provided that Members could amend the budget through the budget setting process if they so wished.

·                 It was confirmed that Denbighshire could consider offers of subsidy provision from Town Councils.  However, each case would be considered on its merits, and particular reference was made to existing arrangements with Prestatyn and Ruthin Town Councils respectively.

·                 The budget was currently being balanced through the maintenance budget, and the importance of delivering the service within the budget was emphasised.

·                 In response to reference by Members to car parks within their respective areas, the HES explained that each car park and their respective locations were different and it was intended to retain the basic structure of the policy with regard to long and short stay car parks.    

·                 The financial implications of additional investment in Pay and Display machines was discussed.  Reference was also made to the possible benefits to service users by the introduction of contactless payment and payment by smart phone.

·                 It was emphasised that it would be important to note that the Council should not operate or provide car parking provision on a commercial basis, or seek to generate a profit from income received.

 

During the ensuing discussion Members expressed their views in respect of the following issues:-

 

-                  The general consensus of the Committee was to support an increase in charges from 10p to 20p, and that the charging regime be based on a half-day period of 3 hours rather than 4 hours.   It was anticipated that the proposed change would discourage the practice of buying two 4 hour tickets instead of purchasing an all-day ticket.

-                  Reference was made to the regeneration programme in Rhyl and the possible negative response to an increase in car parking charges.

-                  It was suggested that consideration be afforded to the possible introduction of a period of grace, possibly of 5 or 10 minutes, for service users who had exceeded the time limit on their parking tickets.  Officers felt this would not be practical and that it would be difficult to set agreeable margins and boundaries.

-                  The need to ensure the availability of short stay car parking provision for local shoppers and visitors to the towns within the County.

-                  A request was made for clarification of the agreement made with the permit holders regarding the utilisation of long and short stay car parks.

-                  Clarification was provided that only one car park had achieved an increase in income during the past year.  The need for an incentive to increase the usage of car parks, while meeting budget, was intimated.

               

The Chair referred to the recommendations in the report and the following comments and views expressed were noted.  During the ensuing discussion the Committee:-

 

·                 emphasised that they were not a decision making body but endorsed the recommendation that budgets had to be balanced, including the car parking budget, subject to the Freedoms and Flexibilities process.

 

·                 agreed the methodology set out in the report provided a logical method of setting charges, determining income levels and meeting the main operational need of the service, i.e. to increase the availability of spaces for shoppers and visitors, and

 

·                 noted that the final budget could be varied via the Council’s budget setting process, including any amendments that might arise from the Freedoms and Flexibilities process, this had the potential to affect the charges that would need to be levied.  The Chair explained that in the interest of clarity any charging increases or decreases decision be made following the budget setting process.

 

Following further discussion it was:-

 

RESOLVED – that the Committee:-

 

(a)            receives and notes the contents of the report, and

(b)            supports the recommendations contained in the report, subject to the above comments, and in particular the lower of the two proposed charges and tariff bands shown in Appendix B with a 3 hour half day period.