The Chairman will summarise the main points made, following which the Area Board will consider whether it wishes to forward any issues to the Cabinet, in the form of a recommendation.
Minutes:
Before inviting comments from the members of the Area Board, the Chairman asked for a show of hands from the public. The view was overwhelmingly in support of the reintroduction of 1-hour parking, and for the immediate reduction of the 2-hour parking while the process of bringing back the 1-hour charge was undertaken. Following a further show of hands it was established that the room would prefer a £2 charge for 2-hours and £1/£1.20 for 1 hour.
The Chairman then sought comments from members of the Area Board:
· In terms of Salisbury’s potential as a tourist destination it was stated that Salisbury was unique and special within Wiltshire, and so needed to be promoted independently of Wiltshire as a whole.
· The point was made that issue of parking demonstrated the need for local input and local knowledge into the decision-making process.
· It was suggested that one or two of the Park and Ride sites could be closed down, as most cities had fewer than five sites. However, Councillor Tonge responded that the sites has been designed to meet the main traffic routes into the city; closing one site would mean routing some traffic through the city to another site, which would undermine the aim of keeping traffic out of the city.
· The view was expressed that Southampton should remain the main comparator for parking charges as a retail competitor, although Southampton currently offered a better retail choice that Salisbury. This highlighted the need to support the Salisbury Vision to help increase and develop retail choice in Salisbury.
· At the Chairman’s request for a show of hands, the majority of those present would support a scheme to request a voluntary £1 donation towards bus travel, from holders of concessionary bus passes. Councillor Thomson reiterated that this was not considered to be legal under the current system, but commented that John Glen could lobby the government to look at changing this.
ACTION: John Glen MP
· Another show of hands demonstrated that the room did not support the suggestion of a parking redemption scheme, whereby some businesses would refund parking costs to customers.
Following discussion and debate, the following resolutions were moved, seconded and agreed:
Decision
1. Having heard the views expressed this evening by the people of Salisbury, the Salisbury Area Board recommends to Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet that:
a) the 1-hour parking option for off-street car parks in Salisbury be reintroduced as soon as possible;
b) in the interim and while the process of reinstating the 1-hour charge is taking place, the 2-hour charge be immediately reduced; and
c) following the reintroduction of 1-hour parking charge as at 1a) above, the charges be set as follows:
· 1 hour: £1.20
· 2 hours: £2.00
2. The Salisbury Area Board recognises that the Cabinet is faced with a difficult decision in how to find the costs of the proposed measures set out at 1a, 1b and 1c above.
3. The Salisbury Area Board wishes to ensure that Wiltshire Council engages in 2012 at an earlier stage with the local community (residents, businesses, traders and other organisations).
The Chairman concluded by commenting that the Area Board would take the messages from the meeting back to the Cabinet, and would seek to address the issues raised as quickly as possible.
It was also hoped that the Area Board and the City Council could work together more closely on these types of issues in future, to address issues at an earlier stage.