The Chairman thanked Councillor Tonge for the
presentation, commenting that the Area Board would be looking at
the issue of the Salisbury Vision in more detail at another
Extraordinary Area Board meeting.
During the course of the discussion, the
general view was expressed from the floor that the new parking
charges had resulted in a significant fall in car park occupancy,
with a resulting impact on footfall in the city. The business community raised serious concern
regarding the financial impact on local retailers, particularly
small and independent shops, and considered that the issue needed
to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Questions and comments were invited from the
floor, and responses given as follows:
- In response to a question,
Councillor Tonge undertook to make available the financial basis on
which the revenue implications of reintroducing the 1-hour charge
had been calculated.
- Councillor Thomson responded to a
comment from John Glen, MP for Salisbury, explaining that the move
to a unitary authority had saved around £18 million per year,
and had put Wiltshire Council in a more financially secure position
that other authorities, resulting in fewer reductions to frontline
services than in other areas. In
addition to the reduction in government funding, the Council was
seeking to invest in certain services and to make savings of
£80 million from the rationalisation of offices.
- Also in response to a question from
John Glen, Councillor Tonge explained that the Council’s car
parking strategy had been based on “bands”, with small
towns in band 4, market towns in band 3, Chippenham and Trowbridge
in band 2 and Salisbury in band 1 (due to its unique
nature). This had been set out in the
consultation and had been supported by the Scrutiny process.
- The parking charges in Salisbury had
been set following comparisons with retail competitors in the
south/south west, such as Southampton and Winchester.
- Councillor Tonge reported that the
parking income had dropped by around £500,000 across the
county.
- Graham Gould of Salisbury City
Centre Management stated that Wiltshire Council’s own figures
showed that short stay car parking was down 25% in the last year,
and long stay car parking was down 66%, with around half of these
cars using Park and Ride. The City
Centre Management considered that Salisbury should be compared to
Southampton as its most important retail competitor; car parking
charges in Salisbury were currently around 10-12% higher than in
Southampton.
- In response to allegations that
Parking Enforcement Officers were being chauffeur-driven on Sundays
and regularly worked in pairs, it was clarified that the Council
did not employ any chauffeurs. Parking
Enforcement Officers did occasionally work in pairs; for training,
and in some locations for safety reasons.
- Following comments regarding
disabled parking and access to Bourne Hill, Councillor John Thomson
noted that the same comments had been raised at the previous
meeting on 14 July. Officers had
offered to meet with the person who had raised the issue and to
investigate the possibility of improved signage. This offer was still open.
- The view was expressed that the drop
in car park occupancy would not only lead to a drop in car park
income, but also in business rates, due to the impact on the local
economy. Councillor John Thomson
responded that the Cabinet had recognised the need to support local
businesses by addressing these concerns.
- In response to a suggestion that
parking charges be introduced for evenings, Councillor Dick Tonge
explained that Southampton currnently charged for parking in the
evenings, however this had not been proposed for Salisbury during
the consultation, and it was not considered that there would be
much enthusiasm for evening parking charges in Salisbury.
- It was noted that Winchester had
reversed changes to their car parking charges very quickly, and it
was queried why Salisbury could not do the same. Councillor Thomson explained that the change in
Winchester was a minor variation to charges, whereas what was being
requested in Salisbury was the reintroduction of a 1-hour
charge. Initial advice from the
Council’s legal department was that this may constitute a
change to the whole parking scheme and so this would need to be
re-advertised and subject to public consultation. Councillor Jane Scott (the Leader of
Wiltshire Council) had written to Eric Pickles MP (Secretary of
State for Communities and Local Government) to seek a dispensation
to amend the charges without the need for this consultation which
could delay implementation for several months (letter circulated
with papers for the meeting). Following
a request, John Glen MP undertook to lobby Mr Pickles over this
issue, to allow Wiltshire Council to bring in any new charges as
soon as possible.
ACTION: John Glen
MP
- It was suggested that, in the
meantime, the 2-hour parking charge could be reduced, to alleviate
the effect on local businesses.
Councillor Thomson commented that this proposal was one of a number
of options which would be discussed with stakeholders at a meeting
next Monday.
- Further to a comment regarding a
complaint about the behaviour of Parking Enforcement Officers,
Councillor Thomson reported that he was aware of the issue which
was currently being investigated. The
outcome would be reported to the complainant.
- In response to a comment regarding a
legal requirement for councils not to use income from car parks as
revenue to fund other services, it was clarified that this referred
to income from on-street parking, and that the Council adhered to
the wording of the Act.
- It was noted that small shops in the
rural villages around Salisbury had seen a small increase in trade
as a result of the removal of the 1-hour parking
charge. As such, it was requested that
any new 1-hour charge be set with this in mind, rather than
encouraging trade into the city at the expense of rural shops.
- In relation to the subsidy for bus
travel, the meeting noted that around 70% of bus users had a
concessionary bus pass, while the majority of these could afford to
pay for bus travel. John Glen
acknowledged that this system could be improved, but noted that a
“means tested” system would cost even more to
administer, and that it was politically difficult to change the
free bus pass scheme. It was suggested
that a voluntary system be introduced, for people to contribute
£1 towards the cost of their journey. By a show of hands, it was established that a
majority of bus pass holders present would be happy to contribute
on such a voluntary basis. However,
Councillor Thomson reported that this had already been investigated
and was not considered to be legally possible.
- The suggestion was made that Park
and Ride needed to be cheaper (or free) to encourage greater
use. This would help keep traffic out
of the city, thus improving air quality, while maintaining the
footfall to sustain the local economy.
- Further to a question regarding the
use of traffic management consultants in Salisbury, the Chairman
asked officers to provide a response to the questioner.
ACTION: James
Hazlewood
- It was noted that some towns had
been given the opportunity to take over the running of the local
car park. Councillor Tonge reported
that this had only been considered for very small car parks, and
that the same approach would not be possible with bigger car parks
due to the costs involved with maintaining larger sites.