Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Head of People, Performance & Waste and the Environment & Enforcement Manager recommending proposals to be considered by the Economy and Assets Policy Development Group that have come from the Car Parking Consultative Group for future changes to both pay and display as well as permit parking within MDDC car parks for the financial year 2026/27.

The Group had before it a report * from the Head of People, Performance and Waste and the Environment & Enforcement manager recommending proposals from the Car Parking Consultative Group for future changes to both pay and display as well as permit parking within Mid Devon District Council car parks for the financial year 2026/2027.

The following was highlighted within the report:

·       The Head of People, Performance and Waste commenced his introduction to the report by responding in full to the questions from Mr Quinn. In response to Mr Quinn’s claim that the last introduction of new tariffs was the 1 June 2024 and not 1 June 2023 the Head of People, Performance and Waste confirmed that the public questioner was correct. The last rise was in June 2024 and not June 2023. The Head of People, Performance and Waste corrected the record for this change and also acknowledged that some of the proposed changes were incorrect due to being raised to the nearest £1 rather than the nearest 10p. The Head of People, Performance and Waste gave the examples for Station Road, Cullompton and High Street, Crediton.

·       Cllr Woollatt later identified that a similar error had occurred for Wellbrook Street, Tiverton and the Head of People, Performance and Waste acknowledged this mistake and likewise corrected the proposed rates on record.

·       The Head of People, Performance and Waste apologised for the above mistakes to both the public questioner and the committee and confirmed these would be corrected before being sent on to Cabinet.

·       The Head of People, Performance and Waste then introduced the substance of the report. In terms of looking at the package of measures that were being presented this paper set out proposed fees and charges for car parks and permits for the upcoming 2026/2027 financial year. These were intended to be bought in from the 1st of April 2026. These proposals had all been carefully considered and put forward by the Car Parking Consultative Group. This group comprised of a collection of business and community representatives across the district who provided feedback and input to ensure proposals were properly considered and reflective of community views before they came to the Policy Development Group.

·       There had been three key considerations in making these proposals. First, that they were logical and worked for both businesses and communities in the district. Secondly, consideration was given to the cost of living pressures being experienced by residents and thirdly that they took account of the financial pressures being placed on the Council, including funding and inflation. The group had put forward three main sets of proposals for consideration. First, that car parking fees were raised by 5%. There had been no rise in car parking fees since the 2024 financial year. The rise on the 1st of June 2024 had reflected inflation during that year. Inflation was projected to rise by at least 5.7%. The increase in costs for the parking service were considerable and included the cost of patrolling car parks and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32