Carolin Martlew
Council: Crawley
Committees:
Activity Timeline
Meetings Attended Note this may include planned future meetings.
39 meetings · Page 1 of 8
Overview and Scrutiny Commission - Monday, 24th November, 2025 7.00 pm
Overview and Scrutiny Commission - Monday, 3rd November, 2025 7.00 pm
Decisions from Meetings
198 decisions · Page 31 of 40
Revision of Parking Tariff charges for Orchard Street Surface Carpark
From: Constitution - Monday, 27th October, 2025 - October 27, 2025
1.Background. 1.1.Phase one of the off-street parking review and the introduction of an off-street parking strategy seeks to explore the tariff structures of all Town Centre parking places which fall within the Crawley Borough Council Off-Street Parking Places Order. The applicable sites within the remit of Phase one are Town Hall Multi-Storey Car Park, Orchard Street Multi-Storey Car Park, Kingsgate Multi-Storey Car Park, and Orchard Street Surface Car Park. 1.2.The scope of the phase one review is to understand more fully the role of our Town Centre Parking Place which include income generation which supports wider delivery of the council’s functions and supporting the economic vitality of the Town Centre. 1.3.The overarching principle of phase one is to explore the sites individually, assessing what attracts users to that area of the borough and ensuring that the tariff structure is designed in such a way that it attracts customers from our parking place competitors in the same or close by locations. The aim to is focus less on generating income through tariffs, and instead focussing on increasing the volume of parking occasions through an attractive and competitive offer. 1.4.Whilst generating income from car parks is recognised as an important activity for Council budgets, the Council also plays a role as custodians of the public realm and needs to ensure that town centre assets are used appropriately to support the economic vitality of the area. 1.5.The Borough’s Town Centre Multi-Storey Car Parks have been upgraded to provide a more secure offer using ANPR technology which also reduces the need for physical enforcement activity to take place within the structures. The sites are also now accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This 24/7 model is a unique offer for secure parking in the Town Centre, with the closest commercial competitor closing their site overnight. 1.6.Since 2020, parking behaviour has changed significantly and due to hybrid working and less overall footfall in public places, this is unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, occupancy rates in the sites have reduced across the estate, which has in turn, resulted in a reduction of income generated by the sites. 1.7.Traditionally, fees and charges for the sites has increased by inflation year or year with the last revision to tariffs being completed in late 2021. As a result, there is a disjointed offer which no longer correlates with the surrounding environment factored into the charges i.e., residential units, retail offer or the night-time economy. 1.8.The introduction of an evening surcharge has also proved to be confusing for customers and has generated negative feedback, from users of all three MSCPs who pay higher tariffs if arriving in the car parks before 6pm and expecting to pay an evening rate. 1.9.Due to low levels of occupancy at Kingsgate Car Park, a festive charging period was trialled from December 2022 which introduced a flat rate £2.50 to use the space, regardless of length of stay between 00:00 and 23:59. This saw a sharp increase in occupancy and did not adversely affect the usage of other CBC parking places. It has therefore been deemed that this trial attracted customers from our biggest commercial competitor in the Town Centre, County Mall. The trail has continued into 2023 with an increase in revenue by around 100% when compared with the previous monthly average. 1.10.The data gathered from this trial has indicated that customers will choose price over convenience and therefore, in order to create sustainable levels of occupancy at our parking places, our tariff structure needs to reflect the needs of our customers and be designed to support the surrounding environment. 1.11.This report aims to set a framework for managing car parks and tariff setting. When reviewing the tariff policy in the town centre car parks, and to make the below recommendations; the following factors were taken into consideration: •Who are the customers and why are they using the site? •What is the nearby offer i.e., retail, night-time economy, businesses, residential? •What is the current parking behaviour and lengths of stay? •Who are the sites competitors, and how do we compete? 2.Orchard Street Surface Carpark – Proposed Fees 2.1.Background 2.1.1.Adjacent to Orchard Street MSCP is a 44-space surface car park, with a charging regime between 7am – 7pm seven days a week. Recognising that this location does not provide security or ANPR, the current charging regime is: •£2.10 – up to 2 hours •£2.70 – Up to 3 hours •£3.80 – Up to 12 hours •£1.10 – Weekend Charge 2.1.2.Without ANPR there is not as much rich usage data available, but headline transactions indicate that the up to 2 hours and all-day charges are the most popular. 2.1.3.However, this car park is close to night-time economy businesses and currently provides free parking after 7pm. This is due to coincide with the operational hours of the enforcement team, but that does not limit the chargeable hours that could be in operation. 3.Recommendations: 3.1.1.Introduce a revised, differential tariff structure for extended parking hours between 7am – 10pm to capture currently free parking behaviour for those visiting local amenities. 3.1.2.Introduce new charges that are more in line with the MSCP tariffs but recognising that this is a surface car park location. 3.1.3.Revised tariffs: •£2.50 - Up to 3 hours •£4.50 – All day 4.Rationale 4.1.1.This new pricing structure recognises the proximity to the town centre and night-time economy whilst also supporting short and longer stay usage, but for a longer period and recognises that there is no ANPR or additional security on site. 4.1.2.The extended charging hours would be on the understanding that between 6 – 10pm no regular enforcement would take place, and the site would be self-enforcing.
Recommendations Approved
Revision of Parking Tariff charges for Orchard Street Multi-Storey Carpark
From: Constitution - Monday, 27th October, 2025 - October 27, 2025
1.Background. 1.1.Phase one of the off-street parking review and the introduction of an off-street parking strategy seeks to explore the tariff structures of all Town Centre parking places which fall within the Crawley Borough Council Off-Street Parking Places Order. The applicable sites within the remit of Phase one are Town Hall Multi-Storey Car Park, Orchard Street Multi-Storey Car Park, Kingsgate Multi-Storey Car Park, and Orchard Street Surface Car Park. 1.2.The scope of the phase one review is to understand more fully the role of our Town Centre Parking Place which include income generation which supports wider delivery of the council’s functions and supporting the economic vitality of the Town Centre. 1.3.The overarching principle of phase one is to explore the sites individually, assessing what attracts users to that area of the borough and ensuring that the tariff structure is designed in such a way that it attracts customers from our parking place competitors in the same or close by locations. The aim to is focus less on generating income through tariffs, and instead focussing on increasing the volume of parking occasions through an attractive and competitive offer. 1.4.Whilst generating income from car parks is recognised as an important activity for Council budgets, the Council also plays a role as custodians of the public realm and needs to ensure that town centre assets are used appropriately to support the economic vitality of the area. 1.5.The Borough’s Town Centre Multi-Storey Car Parks have been upgraded to provide a more secure offer using ANPR technology which also reduces the need for physical enforcement activity to take place within the structures. The sites are also now accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This 24/7 model is a unique offer for secure parking in the Town Centre, with the closest commercial competitor closing their site overnight. 1.6.Since 2020, parking behaviour has changed significantly and due to hybrid working and less overall footfall in public places, this is unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, occupancy rates in the sites have reduced across the estate, which has in turn, resulted in a reduction of income generated by the sites. 1.7.Traditionally, fees and charges for the sites has increased by inflation year or year with the last revision to tariffs being completed in late 2021. As a result, there is a disjointed offer which no longer correlates with the surrounding environment factored into the charges i.e., residential units, retail offer or the night-time economy. 1.8.The introduction of an evening surcharge has also proved to be confusing for customers and has generated negative feedback, from users of all three MSCPs who pay higher tariffs if arriving in the car parks before 6pm and expecting to pay an evening rate. 1.9.Due to low levels of occupancy at Kingsgate Car Park, a festive charging period was trialled from December 2022 which introduced a flat rate £2.50 to use the space, regardless of length of stay between 00:00 and 23:59. This saw a sharp increase in occupancy and did not adversely affect the usage of other CBC parking places. It has therefore been deemed that this trial attracted customers from our biggest commercial competitor in the Town Centre, County Mall. The trail has continued into 2023 with an increase in revenue by around 100% when compared with the previous monthly average. 1.10.The data gathered from this trial has indicated that customers will choose price over convenience and therefore, in order to create sustainable levels of occupancy at our parking places, our tariff structure needs to reflect the needs of our customers and be designed to support the surrounding environment. 1.11.This report aims to set a framework for managing car parks and tariff setting. When reviewing the tariff policy in the town centre car parks, and to make the below recommendations; the following factors were taken into consideration: •Who are the customers and why are they using the site? •What is the nearby offer i.e., retail, night-time economy, businesses, residential? •What is the current parking behaviour and lengths of stay? •Who are the sites competitors, and how do we compete? 2.Orchard Street Multi-Storey Carpark – Proposed Fees 2.1.1.Orchard Street MSCP is a five storey Multi-Storey Carpark located in the Northgate Ward, close to the Town Centre and close to retail, business premises, dining, and night-time economy offerings. The site has a newly established commercial competitor at Sussex House a short distance away. 2.1.2.Orchard Street MSCP lacks a definitive identity and can be best described as mixed use with just 12% of customers using the site for shopping, leisure and the night-time economy whilst also attracting a large number of town centre workers and Town Centre residents, with the sale of season tickets being the largest proportion of income generated by the site. 2.1.3.As with Kingsgate, the site has an evening surcharge that has gained negative responses and as most overnight users are season ticket holders, this again may be limiting income potential income linked to nearby leisure and night-time economy offer with free parking available just a short walk away in the retail park. 2.1.4.Orchard Street MSCP also has a weekend flat-rate charge, but the data suggests that this may be reducing income potential as just 19% of current customers are using the site for short stays under 3 hours. 2.1.5.Current Tariff: •£1.60 – up to 1 hours •£3.20 – Up to 3 hours •£5.30 – Up to 12 hours •£7.40 – Over 12 hours •£2.10 – Evening surcharge •£2.10 – Weekend Charge 2.1.6.When reviewing the structure to make the below recommendations; the below factors were taken into consideration: •Who are the customers and why are they using the site? •What is the nearby offer i.e., retail, night-time economy, businesses, residential? •What is the current parking behaviour and lengths of stay? •What is the sites competitor, and how do we compete? 3.Recommendations: 3.1.1.Introduce a revised, differential tariff structure for all day parking that removes weekend and evening tariffs, making it an attractive option for visiting local amenities at that end of the town centre. 3.1.2.The current 24 hours tariff is too high and there is a lack of rationale to support this price whilst occupancy is low. 3.1.3.Introduce a new tariff structure: •£2.50 – 0-2 hours •£3.00 – up to 3 hours •£5.50 – 3-24 hours 4.Rationale 4.1.1.The current 0–1-hour tariff use is not reflective of how the majority customers are using the space and does not significantly contribute to the income potential of the site. In addition, this price point does not encourage visitors to spend prolonged periods of time in the local area to support the wider local economy. Introducing 0 – 2 and up to 3-hour tariffs makes this car park an attractive offer to support local amenities, whilst also providing an affordable over 4-hour stay for workers and residents. 4.1.2.The rationale to abolish the evening surcharge payable for any parking beyond 6pm to 6am has had a negative consequence on both customer experience and expected use of the site overnight. The surcharge was originally intended to generate income through overnight and night-time economy parking, but the data gathered during the first year has not signalled this has been an effective approach and may in fact, be preventing people from using the site for this purpose. Our closest commercial competitor does not have this charge, and therefore are the most likely alternative choice for customers. 4.1.3.The weekend tariff was introduced to increase footfall within the Town Centre by having a flat rate for any number of hours between 0600hrs and 1800hrs on Saturday and Sunday. Whilst the rationale sought to achieve the volume over value approach being designed in this phase 1 review, it is significantly reducing income potential and again, not consistent with how customers are using the site and is not an approach taken by our commercial competitors. 4.1.4.The revised tariff structure will not impact any income/agreements made with any commercial partners and will be considered in a sperate policy context.
Recommendations Approved
Revision of Parking Tariff charges for Kingsgate Multi-Storey Carpark
From: Constitution - Monday, 27th October, 2025 - October 27, 2025
1.Background. 1.1.Phase one of the off-street parking review and the introduction of an off-street parking strategy seeks to explore the tariff structures of all Town Centre parking places which fall within the Crawley Borough Council Off-Street Parking Places Order. The applicable sites within the remit of Phase one are Town Hall Multi-Storey Car Park, Orchard Street Multi-Storey Car Park, Kingsgate Multi-Storey Car Park, and Orchard Street Surface Car Park. 1.2.The scope of the phase one review is to understand more fully the role of our Town Centre Parking Place which include income generation which supports wider delivery of the council’s functions and supporting the economic vitality of the Town Centre. 1.3.The overarching principle of phase one is to explore the sites individually, assessing what attracts users to that area of the borough and ensuring that the tariff structure is designed in such a way that it attracts customers from our parking place competitors in the same or close by locations. The aim to is focus less on generating income through tariffs, and instead focussing on increasing the volume of parking occasions through an attractive and competitive offer. 1.4.Whilst generating income from car parks is recognised as an important activity for Council budgets, the Council also plays a role as custodians of the public realm and needs to ensure that town centre assets are used appropriately to support the economic vitality of the area. 1.5.The Borough’s Town Centre Multi-Storey Car Parks have been upgraded to provide a more secure offer using ANPR technology which also reduces the need for physical enforcement activity to take place within the structures. The sites are also now accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This 24/7 model is a unique offer for secure parking in the Town Centre, with the closest commercial competitor closing their site overnight. 1.6.Since 2020, parking behaviour has changed significantly and due to hybrid working and less overall footfall in public places, this is unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, occupancy rates in the sites have reduced across the estate, which has in turn, resulted in a reduction of income generated by the sites. 1.7.Traditionally, fees and charges for the sites has increased by inflation year or year with the last revision to tariffs being completed in late 2021. As a result, there is a disjointed offer which no longer correlates with the surrounding environment factored into the charges i.e., residential units, retail offer or the night-time economy. 1.8.The introduction of an evening surcharge has also proved to be confusing for customers and has generated negative feedback, from users of all three MSCPs who pay higher tariffs if arriving in the car parks before 6pm and expecting to pay an evening rate. 1.9.Due to low levels of occupancy at Kingsgate Car Park, a festive charging period was trialled from December 2022 which introduced a flat rate £2.50 to use the space, regardless of length of stay between 00:00 and 23:59. This saw a sharp increase in occupancy and did not adversely affect the usage of other CBC parking places. It has therefore been deemed that this trial attracted customers from our biggest commercial competitor in the Town Centre, County Mall. The trail has continued into 2023 with an increase in revenue by around 100% when compared with the previous monthly average. 1.10.The data gathered from this trial has indicated that customers will choose price over convenience and therefore, in order to create sustainable levels of occupancy at our parking places, our tariff structure needs to reflect the needs of our customers and be designed to support the surrounding environment. 1.11.This report aims to set a framework for managing car parks and tariff setting. When reviewing the tariff policy in the town centre car parks, and to make the below recommendations; the following factors were taken into consideration: •Who are the customers and why are they using the site? •What is the nearby offer i.e., retail, night-time economy, businesses, residential? •What is the current parking behaviour and lengths of stay? •Who are the sites competitors, and how do we compete? 2.Kingsgate Carpark – Proposed Fees 2.1.1.Kingsgate is a 5-storey carpark within the Town Centre close to shops and a prime location for Town Centre parking. The site has recently undergone renovation having come back into CBC control in 2021 and reopening in 2022. The site boasts ANPR technology and a secure parking offer and is open 24 hours a day. 2.1.2.Before the £2.50 special tariff, the original tariff for Kingsgate replicated Orchard Street MSCP as follows: •£1.60 – one hours •£3.20 – 0-3 hours •£5.30 – 3 – 12 hours •£7.40 – 12-24 hours •£2.10 – evening use surcharge after 6pm •£2.10 – weekend parking 2.1.3.The geographically closest commercial competitors parking tariff structure is as follows: •(Charging hours are 24/7, but only accessible 12 hours per day): •£2.50 – up to 2 hours •£3.00 – up to 3 hours •£3.50 – up to 4 hours •£5.00 – Up to 24 (but closes at 6.45pm) 2.1.4.Whilst there are a mix of short and long stay users, Kingsgate Carpark users most commonly access the site for short stays between 0 and 3 hours which is largely attributed to the site’s proximity to the Town Centre retail offer and the adjacent bingo hall. There is little overnight use, and weekend usage is higher than during the week, which is not unexpected due to its location. 2.1.5.Close monitoring of the sites usage alongside the trialled reduced rate for parking indicates that even at weekends, average usage is around three hours and therefore, there is a case for the weekend and evening pricing structure to be replaced which will not adversely impact on users or usage. 2.1.6.Since December 2022, a £2.50 24-hour tariff was introduced to explore if a ‘volume over value’ approach had a positive impact on both usage and associated income. The trial has seen both increase in usage and income. Initial data suggests that customers chose Kingsgate over the County Mall parking offer and did not impact on other CBC operated parking places within the Town Centre. Feedback from customers has been positive with a more affordable offer being the most common theme. It should also be noted that at weekends the £2.50 charge is higher that the nearby Town Hall car park at £2.10 at weekend. 3.Recommendations: 3.1.1.End the special flat rate tariff and introduce a revised, differential tariff structure for all day parking that removes weekend and evening tariffs, but still supports most current users visiting local amenities. 3.1.2.Introduce a new tariff structure: •£2.50 – 0-3 hours •£3.00 – 0-4 hours •£5.50 – 4-12 hours •£9.00 – 24 hours 3.1.3.Introduce a permanent seasonal tariff between 1st December and 5th January: •£2.50 – 24 hours 4.Rationale 4.1.1.The 0–1-hour tariff use is not reflective of how the majority customers are using the space and does not significantly contribute to the income potential of the site. In addition, this price point does not encourage visitors to spend extended periods of time in the Town Centre to support the wider local economy. In contrast, the 0-3 hour stay length is the most common for the site and is currently priced just slightly higher than our commercial competitor. The trialled reduced rate evidenced that whilst priced just £0.50 less, this was a factor into customers decision at which site to park their vehicle. 4.1.2.Consideration was given to making the £2.50 flat rate permanent; however, it was concluded that this would in time, lead to people using the site for long-term parking as it would be cheaper than anywhere else and could impact on the overall availability of space in the site for shopping and leisure. 4.1.3.The introduction of a 0–3-hour tariff reduces income potential; however, parking behaviour does not currently align with our charging structure, and the volume over value approach seeks to result in a modest increase in income generation with this being the most realistic method to achieve the £300,000 income target associated with the site for 2023/24. 4.1.4.The rationale to abolish the evening surcharge payable for any parking beyond 6pm to 6am has had a negative consequence on both customer experience and expected use of the site overnight. The surcharge was originally intended to generate income through overnight and night-time economy parking, but the data gathered during the first year has not signalled this has been an effective approach and may in fact, be preventing people from using the site for this purpose. Our closest commercial competitor does not have this charge, and therefore are the most likely alternative choice for customers. 4.1.5.The weekend tariff was introduced to increase footfall within the Town Centre by having a flat rate for any number of hours between 0600hrs and 1800hrs on Saturday and Sunday. Whilst the rationale sought to achieve the volume over value approach being designed in this phase 1 review, it is significantly reducing income potential and again, not consistent with how customers are using the site with the 0–3-hour parking period being the most common; this reduces income potential by around 50% each day and again, is not an approach taken by our commercial competitors. 4.1.6.The introduction of a permanent seasonal offer for Kingsgate Multi-Storey Carpark recognises the vital role the site plays in the economic vitality of the Town Centre during the busiest shopping period of the year, and to encourage those to make use of wider retail and leisure offers available in the Town Centre. 4.1.7.The revised tariff structure will not reduce income/agreements made with any commercial partners and will be considered in a sperate policy context.
Recommendations Approved
Biodiversity Duty Report
From: Constitution - Monday, 27th October, 2025 - October 27, 2025
The Environment Act 2021 has introduced a strengthened ‘biodiversity duty’ that requires public authorities to consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity in England. This means that all major planning applications submitted after 1 January 2024, and all planning applications from 1 April 2024 must result in enhanced biodiversity. Local authorities are required to publish a duty report by 1 January 2024 explaining how they will ensure these requirements are implemented.
Recommendations Approved
Calendar of Meetings 2024-2025
From: Constitution - Monday, 27th October, 2025 - October 27, 2025
...to agree the proposed calendar of meetings for Crawley Council for the period May 2024 to May 2025.
Recommendations Approved (subject to call-in)
Summary
Meetings Attended: 39
Average per Month: 1.9
Decisions Recorded: 198