Agenda item

The Committee considered a report in January 2010 which set out the proposed methodology and timescale for reviewing the Local Transport Plan – Parking Plan. Cllr Tonge attended the meeting and highlighted that the review would take account of new national, regional and local policies and would form part of the emerging Local Development Framework (LDF) – Wiltshire Core Strategy and Wiltshire LTP3. Following debate it was resolved to receive a further update before the Plan was submitted to Cabinet for approval.

The Committee will now receive an overview of the consultation process/public feedback and have an opportunity to help the Cabinet member in finalising proposals in advance of executive approval in December 2010.

Recommendation

The Committee is asked to note the update and make subsequent recommendations to the Cabinet Member as it feels appropriate; in advance of the plan being submitted for executive approval.

The Committee considered a report in January 2010 which set out the proposed methodology and timescale for reviewing the Local Transport Plan – Parking Plan.  Upon consideration the Committee resolved to receive a further update prior to the Plan’s submission to Cabinet in December 2010.

The Cabinet Member for Parking and the Team Leader – Transport Planning were in attendance to provide an overview of the consultation process and provided details of the presentation made to all Area Boards.

Clarification was provided that an option to be considered was the ability of Town and Parish Councils to take over the responsibility of car parking management on a lease basis estimated to run for two year periods.  The maintenance costs associated per individual car park currently equated to approximately £5k with details of the full operational costs would be made available to those Councils considering the option.

The review had been undertaken to develop a consistent approach to car parking throughout the County.  The review took into consideration the new national, regional and local policies and would assist with the framework for developers to highlight the parking standards required.  Neighbouring authority plans had also been considered as part of the review.

The consultation itself included the use of a web portal to allow encourage the public to provide comment throughout the process.  Letters to Town and Parish Councils providing details of the options under consideration were also circulated. In addition, the Transport Plan was used to identify a further 8,000 contacts to encourage participation in the consultation process.

In terms of the feedback received, the general concept of banding Towns had been supported although there was some disagreement with the proposed banding itself, i.e. that a specific Town should not be included within a given band.  A number of residents did not agree with any of the 3 options provided although the majority supported the idea of conventional charges.

A fundamental review on charges would be conducted in 5 years although annual reviews would be undertaken to ensure the Plan remained appropriate and in line with other authorities.

Although new housing developments adhered to the current policy position of a set number of parking spaces in relation to a set number of properties, the Committee supported a change to reflect the minimum parking standards.

The Committee noted that parking charges as a whole were lower in Wiltshire than many neighbouring authorities and that parking management needed to be the focus of any resulting plan.  Accordingly, the review provided an opportunity for Town and Parish Councils to manage parking themselves which would allow flexibility on the level of charges, if any, to impose.

Members of the Committee felt that the responses received via the Area Board consultations did not clearly reflect the 18 different sources of feedback received.  Clarification was provided that the comments would be noted and that the resulting report for Cabinet approval would include Area Board feedback.

It was also proposed that the Area Boards would be the appropriate platforms to inform the public of the decisions made.

In relation to the consultation process itself, members questioned whether the process had contributed to the poor response.

A motion was received to recommend that the Cabinet Member ‘embrace’ the localism agenda and recognise that a ‘one size fits all’ approach was not appropriate.  Each Town/Parish Council should negotiate with Wiltshire Council individually within a Council led accounting framework.

Upon vote the motion was not passed although it was noted that Councillors reserved the right to submit a minority report within the next 10 days of the decision made.

Following the meeting a minority report was received which is duly attached to these minutes as Appendix 1.

Resolved:

To congratulate the Cabinet member on the work undertaken and note the update provided and request that the comments made are taken into consideration by the Cabinet member prior to the final report’s submission to Cabinet.