Agenda item

That the comments and concerns raised by the Committee be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration.

The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) introduced a report to seek a recommendation from the Committee on the proposed car parking charges in all Council owned car parks.  He provided background information and advised that the car parking charges had not been reviewed since introduction and that the income generated did not meet the full cost of managing and operating the car parks.  This position was contrary to the Council’s newly adopted corporate policy for fees and charges which expected chargeable non-mandatory functions to be provided on a full cost recovery basis wherever possible. 

The Chief Officer advised that the proposed revised charging arrangements were shown in Appendix 1 to the report.  There were 2 options for the revised charges and the Committee was asked to express a preference for one of the options.  The proposed charges were considered reasonable and would still be low when comparing the cost of parking in Flintshire to other Welsh counties.  The Chief Officer explained that a review and further impact assessment would be undertaken six months after the new charges had been introduced and would be reported back to the Committee in October 2018.

Councillor Chris Dolphin referred to the proposed charges and clarified his view that the charges should not be standardised across all car parks in Flintshire.  He commented on the facilities, shops and services which were provided within each town and said this needed to be taken into account when proposing changes to the current charging arrangements.  Councillor Dolphin requested that the current tariff remained in Holywell.  He also explained that there were two car parks located in close proximity to each other in Holywell and requested that these be amalgamated under the same name with the same parking charges to assist residents who used the local facilities; citing Holywell Leisure Centre as an example.

Councillors Haydn Bateman and Owen Thomas concurred with the view expressed by Councillor Dolphin that car parking charges in Flintshire should be standardised. Councillors Haydn Bateman and Dave Hughes felt that charges should be standardised in line with the current charges in Mold.

Councillor Sean Bibby proposed an amendment to both   options for Buckley, Connah’s Quay, Holywell, Queensferry, and Shotton car parks and proposed that an additional tariff of 20p be made for the first 30 minutes.  This was seconded by Councillor Ian Dunbar. 

Councillor Richard Jones reiterated that not all towns provided the same facilities and commented that free parking increased future footfall in a town centre as people became familiar to shopping in that area.  He also commented on the cost of delivering and maintaining car parks and said that information on the expenditure and income received from each of the car parks in Flintshire should be made available for comparison and to determine future income levels.  He expressed the view that some car parks were not being fully utilised.  Councillor Jones did not support any increase in car parking charges in Buckley as he felt this would not attract new commercial business into the area or support existing local retailers and residents.  Councillor Jones proposed that there was no change to car parking charges in Flintshire and that the income required to address the shortfall in the budget gap should be found from other services. 

            Councillor Aaron Shotton acknowledged that the issue of raising charges was contentious and the vibrancy of the town centres was an important consideration.  He said the approach was in line with the Council’s Fees and Charges Policy and Parking Strategy and commented on the need to maximise revenue generation with full cost recovery wherever possible.  He referred to the need to balance the annual budget and commented on the current shortfall and said income levels had to be raised across all services to address the budget ‘gap’.  The Chief Executive emphasised the need for certainty of income in planning an annual budget.

            Councillor Veronica Gay expressed the view that the proposed increase in charges for Flint Railway Station should be higher. However, Councillor Vicky Perfect felt that the proposed charges were acceptable.

            Councillor Mike Peers commented on the Council’s Car Parking Strategy and Fees and Charges Policy and said it should be reviewed to look at those areas which had initially been discounted.  He added that the smaller car parks also had the potential to raise income for the Authority.  Referring to the Flint area Councillor Peers asked if there was a possibility to recharge for the cost of lost income in that area.  He expressed the view that there was not a “level playing field” and said there was both high and low utilisation of car parks in Flintshire town centres.  He also commented on the impact of displacement and the availability of “off street” car parking and the differential in areas.  Councillor Peers proposed that there should be no charge to park for up to 30 minutes on a short stay car park and that there should be a charge of 20p for up to 1 hour on other car parks.

The Chair concurred that there should be no free car parking and commented on the cost of maintenance for all car parks.

Councillor Chris Dolphin said that consultation should take place with local Town Councils concerning proposals to increase car parking charges to obtain their views on what is reasonable and affordable in their areas.

Councillor Richard Jones proposed a third option to retain the current charges and that the costs of running each car park be analysed.

Due to the number of comments and concerns put forward the Leader suggested that rather than vote on the options within the report, that Cabinet be asked to consider all the proposals put forward. Following discussion it was agreed that the additional proposals raised by the Committee would be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration.

RESOLVED:

That the comments and concerns raised by the Committee be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration.