Agenda item

As detailed in the recommendations with the following amendments and additions:

·         Charges for Talacre to be 20p for up to 2 hours, £2 for up to 4 hours and £4 all day

·         The 50p charge for parking at the short stay car parks in Mold be for 3 hours, not 2

·         Discussions to take place with Clwyd Theatr Cymru on contributions to car park maintenance

·         Residents Parking Policy be amended to apply for 24 hours a day 7 days per week

·         A progress report back to be submitted to Overview and Scrutiny in 12 months

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment introduced the Car Parking Strategy and the introduction of parking charges at all viable town car parks within the ownership of the Council.

            Following Member workshops which included representatives from Town and Community Councils and a public consultation exercise, the proposed parking management arrangements would be applied only in towns where the total number of available Council owned parking spaces exceeded 50 spaces and would therefore apply in the following towns:

• Flint
• Holywell
• Mold
• Buckley
• Connah’s Quay
• Queensferry
• Shotton

Talacre would also be included in the arrangements because of local concerns regarding parking and the impact it had on local communities and businesses.

Where possible a single consistent charging levy would be applied at each car park and a charging sheet list detailing the charging bands that would apply in each town was attached as appendix 2 to the report.

The introduction of car park charges would impact on the availability of local on-road parking spaces for residents.  To overcome this issue, effective residents parking schemes would be required in some areas of the County.  Each local parking strategy would contain details of any local resident parking schemes which would be required as a result of the new proposals.

The programme to introduce revised Traffic Regulation Orders and the resident parking schemes would be delivered to coincide with the introduction of parking charges.  Based on the information gained from the pilot, it had been assessed that the cost of delivering the residents parking scheme could be recovered through a charge for each residents parking scheme of £25 per annum per car.

The introduction of parking charges in both Flint and Mold would require that the associated staff and visitor car parks in those areas be considered as part of the local parking strategy.  This would therefore necessitate the introduction of an affordable and equitable parking permit scheme for the staff that worked at those facilities and used the Council car parks.  Following consultation with staff and Trades Unions, the original proposed charging arrangements for parking permits had been modified.

The cost of a parking permit would be equivalent to that provided to non-Council staff at public commuter car parks which was currently £100 per annum with a zero permit charge for staff employed on salaries at or below the nationally recognised living wage and to any modern apprentices employed by the Council.  Senior staff would be offered designated spaces at a premium rate and in line with current charging arrangements.

In common with other town car parks, there would be no charge for evening parking in Mold.

Where car parking charges were introduced in a town or area that were above the County wide base level, a contribution to the local Town or Community Council equivalent to 10% of the net difference between base level and actual charge level would be provided to the Town or Community Council to invest into the community.

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the amended policy at its meeting on 15 April where the following amendments and additions to the policy were recommended:

1.    Charges for Talacre to be 20p for up to 2 hours, £2 for up to 4 hours and £4 for all day

2.    The 50p charge for parking at car parks in Mold be for 3 hours, not 2

3.    Discussions to take place with Clwyd Theatr Cymru (CTC) on contributions to car park maintenance

4.    Residents Parking Policy to be amended to apply for 24 hours a day 7 days per week

5.    A progress report to be submitted to Overview and Scrutiny in 12 months

The Cabinet Member advised that he had received a petition signed by 1200 traders, residents and shoppers in Buckley who were opposed to the introduction of car park charges in any Flintshire town.

The Cabinet Member for Education supported the policy saying he felt motorists should pay for the use of car parks.  If they didn’t, it was included in the council tax levy which he felt was unfair on those residents who did not own a car and use the car parks.  Flintshire County Council was the last authority in Wales to introduce car parking charges and those set out in the policy were relatively low to the charges imposed by neighbouring authorities.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Development concurred with the view of Councillor Bithell, adding his support to the free night time parking, which would apply to people attending Clwyd Theatr Cymru, which would assist with the night time economy in towns which was being encouraged.

The Chief Executive explained that once proposals were outlined for no charges for evening parking in town centres, alternative options had to be considered on the way in which possible contributions could be made by CTC to the management costs of the public parking space at County Hall.  Talks would take place with CTC on whether such contributions could be made via the grant that they received.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the County Car Parking Strategy be approved;

(b)       That the Council wide charging sheet which lists the proposed charging bands be approved, and that delegated authority be provided to the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, to review the charging arrangements applied at each car park on an annual basis;

(c)        That the introduction of car parking permit schemes at County Hall and Flint be approved to allow staff to utilise the car parks within the local parking strategies;

(d)       That the proposals to make a contribution to any Town or Community Council with car parking charges above the base rate as highlighted in the Council wide summary charging sheet be approved;

(e)       That the proposed charge for the residents parking permit and the continued rollout of the residents parking scheme if required by the local parking strategy be approved; and

(f)        That delegated authority be granted to the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation), following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, to review the proposed charge for residents parking permits on an annual basis.

(g)       The following additions and amendments to the policy were approved:

1.    Charges for Talacre to be 20p for up to 2 hours, £2 for up to 4 hours and £4 for all day

2.    The 50p charge for parking at the short stay car parks in Mold be for 3 hours, not 2

3.    Discussions to take place with Clwyd Theatr Cymru (CTC) on contributions to car park maintenance

4.    Residents Parking Policy to be amended to apply for 24 hours a day 7 days per week

5.      A progress report to be submitted to Overview and Scrutiny in 12 months