Agenda item

The Council’s car parks are important assets for directly contributing to the delivery of the Council’s Vision aims, and indirectly through generating revenue to support delivery of other Council services.

This report sets out a proposal to commission a review of the Council’s off-street parking services to make recommendations on how to obtain best value from these assets. The recommendations from the proposed review would be reported back to the Environment Committee for consideration and implementation.

[20 Minutes]

          Upon the invitation of the Chair, the Group Head of Technical Services introduced the report to the Committee. He introduced the Interim Parking Services Manager to Committee, who was also in attendance to help answer questions from Members. He explained The Council’s car parks were important assets for directly contributing to the delivery of the Council’s Vision aims, and indirectly through generating revenue to support delivery of other Council services. This report set out a proposal to commission a review of the Council’s off-street parking services, which would be carried out by external consultants using existing resources to make recommendations on how to obtain best value from these assets. He highlighted paragraphs 4.5-4.18, which was the proposed scope, and he continued to go through each one. The recommendations from the proposed review would be reported back to the Environment Committee for consideration and implementation.

          Members then took part in a question-and-answer session and the following points were made:

• Clarification was sought on some of the wording used in the report, which was provided by the Group Head of Technical Services.
• It was asked whether another report would be brought back to the Committee for the final scope of the review to be presented. The Group Head of Technical Services confirmed the scope was set out in this report.
• There was concern about trying to increase the revenue generated from car parks during a recession.
• It was felt that trying to predict how demand would change over the next 15 years would be a challenge.
• One Member felt it was clear which car parks were under-used and over-used, and a review was unnecessary.
• It was felt this was not the time to spend money on such a review due to the cost of living crisis.
• In what timeframe would the review take place, and would regular updates be provided to Members? The Group Head of Technical Services predicted this would take around 3 months to complete, and a report would be brought back to the Environment Committee.
•  A breakdown of the figures was requested, such as how much car parks cost to run and how much income was generated from these. The Group Head of Technical Services would provide an update to Members outside of the meeting.
• It was thought Fitzleet Car park was under-used. A Member of the Committee had previously suggested that improved signage should be installed. It was requested that this be looked at by Officers.
• It was suggested that a Park and Ride scheme be looked into by Officers.
• Support was offered for alternatives to increasing more cars and looking at schemes such as Park and Ride.
• Would electric charging points be included in the review? Consideration should be given to making sure these were accessible for everyone. The Chair explained that the largest electric vehicle charging point project in Europe was currently taking place in the area.

The following recommendation was proposed by Councillor Chace and seconded by Councillor Edwards:

1)    that a Parking Services Review be commissioned, and;

2) the scope of the Parking Services Review (as set out in paragraphs     4.5 – 4.18)

Upon taking the vote, this was LOST and therefore the Committee RESOLVED NOT TO commission a Parking Services Review.