Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of People, Performance and Waste & the Environment & Enforcement Manager presenting the views of the car park consultative group and requests that the PDG considers these alongside any recommendations it may choose to make to Cabinet about the structure of fees from 2026/27 onwards.

The Group had before it a report * from the Head of People, Performance and Waste and the Environment & Enforcement Manager presenting the views of the Car Park Consultative Group and requesting that the Policy Development Group considers these alongside any recommendations it may choose to make to the Cabinet about the structure of fees from 2026/2027 onwards. It also provided the opportunity to make onward recommendation to the Cabinet on the advance notification of Christmas Car Parking, as recommended by the Consultative Group.

The following was highlighted within the report:

·       Parking Tariffs: The Car Park Consultative Group had looked at different models from neighbouring authorities, some of whom had cheaper tariffs for longer stays as the Group wished to encourage longer stays in the town centres. After some discussion, the Group had settled on an inflation based rise which had not been done since 2023/24. Inflation was at 2.5% for 2024/25 and was estimated to be 3.2% for 2025/26. A 5% rise would see 10p added to all tariffs across the piece. This fell within the remit of the Section 151 Officer to implement.

·       Permits: The Group had put forward new ideas to make the take up of permits more attractive to the public. These were set out within the report. The incentivised scheme was an area the Consultative Group had asked officers to consider in order to fill the vacant spaces in the Multi Storey Car Park. The introduction of a day permit was at the request of many users who did not have a need for the night element. This showed that the Group had listened to the customer base and had strived to deliver solutions that better served users needs.

·       Free Christmas Parking: The report set out five free Saturday parking days in the run up to Christmas 2025 to support the public, local business and the high street. These were extremely popular with residents particularly when combined with community events including the Christmas light switch on.

Discussion took place regarding:

·       There were significant cost pressures on the service with contractors increasing their prices (for example cash collection agents) and an inflationary rise was felt to be the fairest way forward after much deliberation.

·       It was reiterated that the proposed 5% rise to parking tariffs would be over a 2 year period.

·       The Consultative Group had looked at various other models including those used by neighbouring authorities, frontloading charges in order to make longer stays more attractive and they had listened to residents and proactively sought feedback from them.

·       Was it worth asking traders when were their peak times etc.?

·       The difficulties involved in gathering real time data. The District Council did not have the equipment available to it as the County Council did, such as vehicle number measuring equipment.

·       The possibility of rounding proposed figures up or down to make them more sensible to the customer paying by cash.

·       Car parks were regularly checked for non-compliance and procedures were considered fairly robust. Enforcement information was regularly reported to the Service Delivery and Continuous Improvement PDG.  

RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that:

       i.          The views of the Car Park Consultative Group be noted.

      ii.          A 5% inflation rise be applied across all pay and display tariff bands and that this be factored into the budget setting process for 2026/2027.       

    iii.          It agrees to five dates for free parking in the lead up to Christmas 2025.

(Proposed by Cllr M Farrell and seconded by Cllr J Poynton)

Reason for the decision

This report aligned with the Corporate Plan to deliver sustainable parking options within communities. Therefore, supporting economy and growth within the district.

Note:  (i) * Report previously circulated.

          (ii) Cllr L Knight requested that his abstention from voting be recorded.