Decision

Having been duly proposed and seconded, the Executive Resolved to:-

a)    Approve a 10% increase in all existing car parking charges to be implemented from January 2027 through an amendment to the current parking places orders; rounded to the nearest ten pence- See Appendix 2 – Column B.

b)    Approve the allocation of up to £350,000 funding from the Parking Reserve for the replacement of outdated parking payment machines in car parks across Somerset, subject to the completion of the appropriate procurement and governance requirements.

c)    Approve the development of proposals to extend on-street residents' parking schemes within town centres from six-day to seven-day operation, which must be implemented prior to any introduction of seven-day parking charges in off-street car parks. All proposed changes were subject to funding approvals and statutory Traffic Regulation Order process.

d)    Approve the development of proposals to amend on-street parking restrictions within town centres from six-day to seven-day operation, which must be implemented prior to any introduction of seven-day parking charges in off-street car parks. All proposed changes were subject to funding approvals and statutory Traffic Regulation Order process.

e)    Approve the allocation of up to £150,000 from the Parking Reserve for the development of proposals and implementation of amended layout of parking bays within the Taunton Orchard Multi-Storey Car Park on a storey-by-storey basis to better accommodate larger and heavier vehicles, including electric vehicles, through the provision of larger parking bays, subject to necessary design and governance approvals.

f)      Approve the implementation of a six-month trial of seven-day operation of the Taunton Park and Ride service, to align with the proposed introduction of seven-day parking charges in off-street car parks at an estimated cost of £66k to be funded by income received.

g)    Approve the development of a framework through which City, Town and Parish Councils could enter into agreements with Somerset Council to support local parking management objectives within their area, subject to Somerset Council recovering any additional costs or lost income arising from those arrangements.

h)    To approve the charging tier tariffs, as set out in Appendix 1 to be included in the Parking Principles and charging framework;

i)      To approve the allocation of existing chargeable car parks to the agreed charging tiers, as set out in Appendix 2 – Column D at an implementation cost of £140,000 to be funded from the Parking Reserve. The proposed implementation would commence not earlier than Autumn 2027, and would be subject to the necessary statutory, legal and operational processes.

j)      Delegate authority to the Lead Member for Finance, Procurement and Performance, in consultation with the S151 Officer and the Executive Director for Climate Place and Economy to determine the new parking places order following statutory consultation, prior to implementation of the new tier-based tariffs.

In addition to approving these matters, members were asked to note that officers would commence engagement with communities, local Members and stakeholders on the proposed observations for existing free car parks, as set out in Appendix 3; on-street parking potential interventions, as set out in Appendix 4, noting that these may replace some of the changes made under recommendations c) and d) above; and review of existing parking permits and concessions. The timeframe for this engagement was set out in the Delivery and Implementation section of the report.