The South Hams Executive met and decided to start the process of increasing car parking charges across the district by initiating a public consultation on the changes. They also decided to review parking permits in consultation with the five main towns in the district.

Car Parking Charges

The most significant topic discussed was a report on proposed increases to car parking charges across the South Hams district. The increases would affect all car parks owned by the council, and would see charges rise to different extents in different car parks. You can see the full details of the increases that were proposed at the meeting by looking at the appendix to the agenda titled Appendix A Proposed Tariffs¹. You can see Appendix A: Proposed Tariffs by following this link: Appendix A Proposed Tariffs

The meeting considered a report on the proposed charges that had been prepared by council officers. This report recommended that the Executive approve a number of changes to car parking in the district, including increasing charges in line with inflation, changing Fore Street Car Park in Kingsbridge from a long stay to a short stay car park, changing the tariff at Leonards Road Car Park in Ivybridge, and introducing a new residents parking discount scheme.

The report was discussed in detail by the Executive, with a number of Councillors raising concerns about the impact of the proposed increases on residents and businesses.

...some Members still expressed their concerns and reservations over the suggested £5 administration fee.

The minutes of the meeting record that one councillor spoke at the meeting on behalf of a Dartmouth Parking Community Group who were concerned that if the proposals were implemented they would have:

...a detrimental impact to local residents and businesses ...incredibly severe.

The minutes of the meeting record that in response to this, other Councillors pointed out that Dartmouth Town Council had been consulted on the scheme and had not objected to it.

An amendment to the proposals was suggested that would have removed the £5 administration fee for the residents parking discount scheme. Some councillors supported this amendment on the basis that it would make the scheme simpler, and because they were opposed to the principle of charging residents for a parking scheme in their own area. The minutes record that other councillors opposed the amendment, arguing that:

...the £5 fee would be offset by just a few visits to a Council owned car park.

The amendment was put to a vote but was defeated.

A number of other issues were discussed, including the impact of the proposed charges on Kingsbridge, and the timing of the consultation process.

After a lengthy debate, the Executive voted to approve the recommendations in the report, meaning that a public consultation on the proposed increases will now be carried out.

The Executive also resolved to ask the Director of Customer Service and Delivery to introduce annual inflationary price rises in car parking charges, within the bounds of the law.

That the Director of Customer Service and Delivery be authorised, in consultation with the lead Executive Member and the Leader of Council, to vary the charges payable in respect of off-street parking places to reflect annual changes in the September Consumer Price Index (inflationary uplift) subject to giving the public notice in accordance with Local Authorities Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996 specifying the charges payable when the notice comes into effect

This decision means that in future, car parking charges in South Hams will increase automatically each year without the need for a full consultation process.