Decision

Background to
report:
 
During 2023/24 several reports
were presented to the Finance & Resources OSC and Cabinet in
relation to proposals for parking tariff increases and changes to
existing charging policies. With the last increase in parking
tariffs being agreed in 2019, the objective was to obtain agreement
on a set of proposals that could be included in a statutory
consultation process.
 
This culminated in a
report being presented to Cabinet in December 2023 which clearly
set out a full breakdown of the proposed changes and agreement was
reached with a decision made to progress to statutory
consultation.
 
Following the
publication of the Cabinet paper in December 2023, the
Administration received representations from opposition parties and
also from residents and local businesses who expressed concern at
the proposed changes. Consequently, the Administration reviewed the
proposals again and have proposed a final updated set of changes
that were presented back to the Finance & Resources OSC and
Cabinet in February 2024.
 
A summary of the updated
proposals are set out below.
 
-       
Increases to both on-street and off-street parking
tariff.
-       
Consolidating on-street parking sessions to
introduce a new minimum stay of 2 hours.
-       
Keep Limited Wait Bays (LWBs) on the peripheries of
the high streets in Berkhamsted and Kings Langley as being free to
use.
-       
Keep all LWBs free in Apsley and Hemel Hempstead Old
Town
-       
Introduce charges for LWBs in the centre of Tring
and Kings Langley
-       
All chargeable LWBs (on-street parking) in the
centre of Berkhamsted, Kings Langley, Tring plus Waterhouse Street
and Marlowes to have maximum 1 hour
stay with 2 tariffs: 30 mins for
£0.80 or 1 hour for £1.50.
-       
Hemel Hempstead on-street parking to reduce from the
proposed 4 hours to 2 hours in:
§   
Alexandra Road;
§   
Cemetery Hill;
§   
St John’s Road;
§   
Cotterells
§   
London Road
-       
Addition of an ‘Up to 10 hours’ parking
option in off-street parking
-       
Tariffs in on-street and off-street locations to
apply from 8am – 6pm Monday to Sunday
-       
All evening charging (post 6pm) to be
removed.
-       
Kings Langley off-street car parks to remain free
but stay limited to a maximum of 4 hours between 8am – 6pm
(no time restriction after 6pm)
-       
Canal Fields, Berkhamsted, to remain free but stay
limited to a maximum of 4 hours between 8am – 6pm (no time
restriction after 6pm)
-       
The introduction of a change in the Traffic
Regulation Order (TRO) to enable customers to extend a parking
session by using the Pay By Phone app or the pay machines, but only
where this allowed under the parking restrictions (e.g. you cannot
extend a parking session past the maximum stay)
 
 
These proposals have been
developed through extensive consultation by the Administration with
the key aims of
-       
Starting to introduce consistency with parking
across the borough
-       
Recognising the value of Council assets and
maximising income, whilst also recognising the desire
to:
§   
Support Town/Village centre shops,
§   
Support the nighttime
economy across the borough,
§   
Provide freedom and flexibilities to
shoppers.
 
At the Cabinet meeting
in February it was agreed to progress to statutory consultation
with these proposals, and to delegate authority to the Leader of
the Council and the Portfolio Holder Corporate & Commercial to
make any final decision on the implementation of the parking tariff
increases and changes to charging policy.
 
Work commenced on
drafting the statutory consultation documentation and the proposals
were submitted to the Highways Department at Hertfordshire County
Council, the emergency services, and the Road Haulage Association
for agreement on the proposals before the statutory consultation
with residents and businesses could commence.
 
Responses were
received from all of the above organisations in the early summer
with no objections being raised, however, before the statutory
consultation could commence, the Government called a Parliamentary
election and due to the pre-election period (purdah), the statutory
consultation was delayed until after the election.
 
The statutory
consultation commenced on 10 July 2024 and concluded on 31 July
2024 and was available on the Council’s corporate
consultation platform with hard copies of the consultation and
survey also being available at The Forum, Victoria Hall in Tring,
and Berkhamsted Civic Centre.
The statutory
consultation included 3 separate Traffic Regulation
Orders:
 
-       
Off-street
-       
On-street
-       
Controlled Parking Zones
 
Consultees where asked
to provide any objections to the proposals with clear reasons for
these objections.
 
The Council’s
consultation platform showed that over 3,000 people visited the
consultation during the period and the following 538 objections
were received:
 
-       
Off-street                            
(146 responses)
-       
On-street                            
(372 responses)
-       
Controlled Parking Zones   (20 responses)
 
Whilst this cannot be considered as part of
the statutory consultation process, it is worth noting that a
petition with 3,840 signatures has been delivered to the Council
relating to objections to the parking proposals in Kings Langley.
The Petition was considered in accordance with the
Council’s Petition Scheme, but was not reported to full
Council because this matter was already subject to an open public
consultation.  It was therefore agreed
that the petition would be referred to the final decision makers so
that it could be considered as part of the overall consultation
responses.
 
Decision made and
reasons:
 
Following discussions with the Portfolio
Holder for Corporate and Commercial a decision has been made to
progress the proposed changes to parking tariffs and changes to
charging policies for full implementation.
 
The reasons for this decision are set out
below:
 

The was
nothing highlighted in the objections to the statutory consultation
that had not previously been considered by the Council.

·      
The Council has a duty to its residents and taxpayers to ensure
best value for money, by ensuring it recovers costs for services
provided.
·      
The proposals provide a more equitable charging basis for users
across the Borough, with consistency as to charging policies.
·      
The additional income that the proposals will deliver will
contribute to parking income pressures, and contribute to the
Council’s wider financial sustainability and delivery of
services.
·      
The income will also contribute to longer term objectives relating
to sustainability and climate change, as part of a holistic
approach to encouraging behaviour change in relation to travel and
sustainable transport options.