Agenda item

To give consideration to the proposed car parking charge scales.

The Committee considered a report on Cheshire East Parking Management: tariff structure options and a general update on car parking initiatives. The report was presented by the Parking Services Manager and Head of Community Services.

Several non-committee Members had attended the meeting wishing to address the Committee regarding this item and the Chairman allowed each to speak before the Officers presented the report and the Committee had their discussion.

Councillor Domleo attended the meeting as Ward Member for Congleton West to address the concerns of several Congleton residents who had attended the meeting regarding car parking in Congleton. He stated that parking charges are a sensitive issue in Congleton but wanted to reassure the public that this was not about an increase in charges it was about Cheshire East’s tariff structure. However he did state that there was no shortage of spaces in Congleton and raising charges would only result in a decrease in town centre use.

Councillor Saunders wanted to echo what Councillor Domleo had stated and added that car parks should be charged on an individual basis as most towns and villages have their own individual identities and attractions and one size doesn’t fit all. Uniform tariffs would not be appropriate to use in both urban and rural areas and the differences between each area are not covered by the limited tariff options. The vitality of Towns and Villages should be the number one priority when setting charges and the vitality should not be effected by poorly thought out charges.

Councillor Louise Brown disputed the rating of Macclesfield in Appendix 2 of the report suggesting that Macclesfield’s current situation did not warrant charging its car parks on an A ranking. She stated that other towns currently had a better offer to customers but lower charges than Macclesfield town centre and that was a detriment to Macclesfield. She was concerned about the way in which towns and villages had been classified and suggested that this needed re-examining to ensure that car parking charges were appropriate to the offer of the area.

Councillor Murray suggested that charges should be specific to each car park and what they offer to customers. He also stated that charges in one area will affect the surrounding areas and this should be taken into consideration when developing charges. Economic Vitality should be the only determinant of car park charges and each individual area needed looking at more closely.

Councillor Livesley stated that local members should be involved in setting local charges because they have useful knowledge of the towns and village they represent.

The Parking Service Manager gave an overview of the report. Section 5 of the report contained descriptions of various initiatives that were being considered and piloted by the Council in order to improve the parking service for customers. These included paying tariffs by phone or card, automatic number plate recognition and retailer linked parking promotions. The objective of the tariff restructure was to harmonize the structures that Cheshire East had inherited from the legacy authorities however there was no plans for a review of charges in individual areas.

The Committee asked questions and the following points were made:

·         The Review of Towns and Villages that the Environment and Prosperity Scrutiny Committee conducted in autumn 2010 was compiled by data taken from a snap shot of each town and more longitudinal analysis of each town would be more useful in classifying towns and villages.

·         Traffic management is one of the criteria used to set car parking charges. Increasing the charges in certain car parks could result in too much on street parking which could cause traffic issues.

·         Town and Parish Councils are elected to serve there local areas and they should have an input into what charges are placed on car parks in their area because of the effect charges have on the economy and use of an area.

·         Charges should be consistent and fair for all areas of the borough and that required a Cheshire East policy that was equitable.

·         Each town and village had its own issues with car parks and they all had to be looked at on a local basis. Some areas had issues with commuters taking up car parks all day and some had issues with lack of retail offer or competing with retail parks.

·         The tariff structure could be used as a basis for fairness but a local approach could be taken to decide how structure was applied.

·         It would be hard to justify charging for car parking in car parks that were not well maintained and not fit for purpose. Charges would have to reflect the quality of the car park including where it was in proximity to a town’s facilities and attractions. Zoning principle was being used in some areas and being considered in others.

·         Free parking wasn’t universally supported because it cost money to manage and shouldn’t be subsidised by others having to pay. The possibility of a limited number 20-30 minute parking in essential areas was considered.

The Committee was unable to support the report as it felt the proposed tariff structures were unsuitable for use across the Borough due to the diverse variety of the Borough’s towns and villages.

RESOLVED: That the Committee is in favour of commissioning a Task and Finish Review to deal with the subject of car parking charges.