· Devizes Market Place Parking Petition
To receive the ePetition which can be viewed online here: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=76&RPID=18637467&HPID=18637467
· Devizes Car Parking and Market Place
To receive a presentation on Devizes Car Parking and Market Place.
· Debate and Questions
Minutes:
Devizes Market Place Parking Petition
The Chairman introduced the item, informing the meeting that an e-petition had been received which met the threshold for a debate at the Area Board in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme.
At the invitation of the Chairman the petition organiser, Mr Pawlak, presented the petition which had received over 717 signatures, and which requested the council to renegotiate the transfer of responsibility to Devizes Town Council for the management of Devizes Market Place and allow the town council to keep the car parking facilities there for the benefit of townspeople, visitors and local businesses.
A decision had been taken by Cabinet on 15 January 2019 that as part of the Service Devolution & Asset Transfer Package to Devizes the car parking in the Market Place would be removed.
In presenting his petition Mr Pawlak explained that the petition had come about after the announcement on 19 January 2019 which stated that car parking in the Market Place was being removed. Mr Pawlak felt that many people were very concerned about this and thought that the removal of parking from the Market Place would be detrimental to the town. They also felt that they should have been involved in meaningful discussions with Wiltshire Council and Devizes Town Council regarding the future use of the Market Place. The petition ran from 22 January 2019 until 21 February 2019 and achieved 717 signatures online. Mr Pawlak stated that several hundred more people had signed physical petition sheets. Although these had not been submitted to the Board, it was stated that the combined figure of about 1,000 signatories showed the strength of feeling regarding the issue.
The Chairman thanked Mr Pawlak for his petition and his contribution to the meeting. The Chair announced that Devizes Town Council would give an update on the proposals for the Market Place and then the meeting could debate the issue. It was;
Resolved:
To note the petition.
Devizes Car Parking and Market Place
The Chairman invited Cllr Kelvin Nash and Mr Simon Fisher (Clerk) from Devizes Town Council (DTC) to give their presentation regarding Car Parking and the Market Place.
Mr Simon Fisher stated that there had been a lot of debate regarding the Market Place and its future use. A parking review had been conducted the previous year and people had been very concerned regarding the original changes proposed. Devizes was a wonderful town with a great retail mix and Devizes Town Council wanted it to continue to flourish. However, retail was changing. They needed to focus on how we would use our towns in the future. Devizes Town Council wanted Devizes to be a great place to visit with lots going on. Mr Fisher referenced a report by Mary Portas, who said that towns should “Put in place a ‘Town Team’: a visionary, strategic and strong operational management team for high streets. Town Teams should focus on making High Streets accessible, attractive and safe”.
Devizes Town Council had recruited a Town Centre Manager called Mark Hill who was now in role and whose job was to manage and promote the Market Place and The Shambles. He had previously worked with a number of other markets, including Salisbury Market and had a good record of turning failing markets around.
The Market Place freehold was due to be transferred to Devizes Town Council on 1 April 2019 and they would accept full responsibility for the upkeep. Devizes Town Council would then be able to lease back a minimum of 50% of the space to Wiltshire Council as a chargeable car park. Wiltshire Council would then install charging machines, install signage, operate the car park, retain revenues and be responsible for enforcement.
In future Devizes Town Council would operate up to 50% of the space under restricted community use and have the option to access the whole Market Place for larger community events.
Devizes Town Council were to consult on their plans. The consultation was to involve focus groups which would include retailers & local businesses; tourism & event providers; conservation groups; local Wiltshire Councillors and members of the community. It was hoped that these focus groups would be set up and meet quickly so that Devizes Town Council could feedback to the community soon. The focus groups would have input on aspects Devizes Town Council could control such as the size of the parking space; the size of the community space; the layout; what should be in the community space; what kind of events should be promoted and what the impact on the conservation area would be. The feedback from the focus groups would then be put out to wider consultation to the whole community.
Devizes Town Council were aware that businesses and residents felt it was important to have some free short term parking spaces. Although parking in the Market Place would become chargeable Devizes Town Council were looking at other possible solutions that would be consulted on.
After the consultation Devizes Town Council would make the final decision, conforming to the principles set by the negotiated agreements between Devizes Town Council and Wiltshire Council and with due consideration to the consultation feedback.
Once the Market Place plans were finalised, Devizes Town Council would conduct a town wide review of parking signage. Ensuring that there was clear signage into the centre from each direction and clear indication of long and short stay parking.
Debate and Questions
In response to a question from a Market Place business owner in the audience, who had originally been involved in early consultation, who thought that the free parking places were staying and now felt un-consulted and uninvolved, Simon Fisher stated that Devizes Town Council had done a lot of consultation at the start and this had been fed back. The Market Place parking was pay and display, although this had not yet been implemented. The parking there either stayed as pay and display or would be displaced to other locations. It had been agreed that the space was too big for community use generally hence the current solution of part pay and display parking, part community use space.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Cabinet Member for Housing, Corporate Services, Arts, Heritage and Tourism stated that agreed changes from the parking review last year had not yet been implemented however all the Traffic Regulation Orders had gone through. The proposals for on street parking were separate to the asset transfer. With regards to the asset transfer, Wiltshire Council had a policy that no strategic assets should be transferred (which included chargeable car parks). Hence the compromises that had been made regarding Devizes Market Place. The proposals would go back to the Wiltshire Council Cabinet on 26 Match 2019. In response to audience comments that there were problems with parking enforcement, as people would park all day in a short stay space, Cllr Clewer stated that he would speak to Cllr Bridget Wayman, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Waste regarding this. On street parking issues would need to be discussed with Devizes Town Council and Cllr Bridget Wayman.
A member of the audience stated that as a pedestrian, he welcomed the idea that some of the Market Place would be free of cars. He thought that if the Market Place and the Wharf could become successful community spaces it would be really good for the town. He also requested that there be more cycle racks in the Market Place as he felt that cycling should be encouraged.
Mr Pawlak requested clarification on free parking in the Market Place. As he understood it, under the current proposals, there would be no free parking in the Market Place other than disabled spaces, all other spaces would be pay and display. Devizes Town Council confirmed that this was correct. However there would be some free spaces nearby.
A member of the audience stated that they knew several people who would not be able to afford to pop in to town on a daily basis to use the shops if the free parking places were removed. There would be a percentage of people who no longer came to the Market Place.
Devizes Town Council stated that one of the proposals would change the timings of on street parking bays. Some of the free 30 minute parking spaces from the Market Place would be replaced by 30 minute on street parking nearby. This would in turn displace what had previously been 1 hour spaces to a slightly further out location which currently had 2 hour parking. These 2 hour spaces would then be displaced out to car parks. In all car parks, parking would remain free after 6pm and free on Sundays.
A member of the Federation of Small Businesses spoke, stating that he was part of the original working group. He did not have an issue with parking timings being reduced for on street places. Outside his business cars generally parked for around 20 minutes. He did not think there would be increased flow as this was already happening. He hoped this would be included in the consultation Devizes Town Council were undertaking. He was hoping to get an expert on parking from the Federation of Small businesses to come and present and invited Devizes Town Council and the Area Board to attend.
When asked for clarification on timings and dates for all the changes, Devizes Town Council stated that the asset transfer would take place on 1 April 2019. However, the package had only been agreed by Devizes Town Council a few days before the Area Board so timings had not yet been finalised. Wiltshire Council were keen for the changes to be implemented as soon as possible. Devizes Town Council hoped that it would be short term – a matter of weeks/months for the changes to be implemented.
The Chairman thanked Devizes Town Council for all their hard work on this issue and thanked the audience for their questions.
Devizes Town Council also stated that they were taking the Shambles on. They hoped the space could be used in the evenings and invited the Area Board to hold a meeting there (which had been pencilled in for July).
The Chairman also thanked Cllr Richard Clewer for the asset transfer and looked forward to all that could be achieved for Devizes.