To receive a report of the Director of Finance, Assets and Resources presenting a car parking update after the first 10 months of the new charging strategy.
Minutes:
The Committee had before it and NOTED a report * from the Director of Finance, Assets and Resources presenting a car parking update after the first 10 months of the new charging strategy.
The officer reminded Members that during 2015/16 the Managing the Environment Policy Development Group had set up an officer and member working group to review the current car park charging policy and then make recommendations on a new one to be implemented on the 1/4/16. This review looked at: usage levels, benchmarked charges against neighbouring Councils, considered more free periods, reviewed concessions, considered economic consequence, etc.
After an extensive consultation process, reported at all of our 34 car parks and advertised in the local press and at the Council offices, the main changes made to the new charging policy were:
· The removal of the £1 tariff for 5hrs parking in the 3 long stays
· But freezing the £2 tariff for all day parking
· Introducing a 30 min free period during the evening and freezing the overnight charge at a £1
· Extending the free period at Westexe and Phoenix House to 30 minutes
· Introducing a 30 mins free period at William Street and Wellbrook Street
· Reducing Sunday and Bank Holiday charges to £1
It was then estimated that if vends (15/16) remained at the same level for 2016/17 the new charging policy would generate circa £141k more income from the Council’s 10 pay & display car parks.
The officer explained that when evaluating the impact of a new charging policy for any product, it was often made harder, as other variables may well have direct/indirect effects/consequences. This was particularly relevant to car parking. Variables such as weather, the economy, fuel prices, provision of alternative parking, availability and range of shops, level of ad hoc concessions granted, road closures, etc. would also affect usage levels and hence income generated.
The Committee had previously received information with regard to the first 6 months of 2016/17 relating to both income received and vends purchased.
The officer informed Members that income from car parking had increased across the board to the region of £59k to date and a projected increase of over £70k for the year. In some car parks vends had decreased but they had increased in others. The officer assured Members that car parking statistics would be carefully monitored and that it was necessary to ensure that car parking prices did not have a negative effect on the town centres. There were no proposed changes to parking fees for the coming year.
The Tiverton Town Centre and Market Manager highlighted footfall data for Tiverton within the report, explaining that it was recorded on every market day as a management measure for identifying problems and good news. Nationally performance figures just released had shown an increase in footfall of 2.2% for the previous year. He reported that measuring footfall was a key element of measuring the success of the towns. To date there was not enough data to undertake year on year comparisons for Tiverton. The officer further explained that electronic methods for recording footfall could be very expensive, particularly over three towns.
Discussion took place regarding:
· Peaks in footfall which had been on Saturdays in 2016 when events had been held in the market;
· The impact that weather can have on footfall;
· Data that was available regarding ticket vends and ticketing.
It was RESOLVED that an update regarding car parking be received in six months’ time.
(Proposed by the Chairman)
Note: - Report previously circulated and attached to Minutes.
Supporting documents: