Scrutiny Committee |
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Report of Head of Housing and Environment Author: John Backley E-mail: john.backley@southandvale.gov.uk Cabinet member responsible: Councillor David Rouane Tel: 07957 287799 E-mail: david.rouane@southoxon.gov.uk To: Scrutiny DATE:9 November 2020 |
AGENDA ITEM |
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1. For the Scrutiny committee to consider the consultation on car park fees and charges and to feedback to the cabinet any comments for consideration at the meeting in February 2021.
2. South: Improved economic and community wellbeing.
3. Cabinet considered a report on car park fees and charges for 2020/21 at the meeting on 6 August 2020 (report attached in Appendix A). Cabinet agreed to amend the parking fees in line with the proposals in the report which meant:
- increasing fees (for up to two hours and above) by 20p
- increasing all day parking fees at Edinburgh Drive car park in Didcot and Wheel Orchard car park in Goring from £3.40 to £5.00 for up to 8 hours.
4. These changes are being arranged currently by a Notice of Variation in the car parks and will come into effect from 1 December 2020 as below.
5. Cabinet agreed to progress other proposed changes but these require formal consultation and it is these changes that the Scrutiny committee is asked to comment on.
They are:
A. Align all charging car parks in the centre of market towns of Didcot, Henley, Wallingford and Thame, as well as Goring, to all have up to one hour of free parking between the charging hours. And to amend charging hours to 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday in all car parks where a charge is made.
B. Change the current permitted parking period from Monday to Saturday to Monday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm in all car parks
C. Introduce limited waiting at High Street car park, Chinnor
D. Charging points for electric vehicles
6. The cabinet report in Appendix A details the financial implications of each of the changes.
7. If option A is approved, the cost to the parking account is estimated to be £130,000 creating a deficit going forward and additional changes to policy will be necessary.
8. Option B will contribute £138,000 additional income if implemented.
9. The financial impact of options C and D are negligible.
10. The proposed changes A, B, C and D require the making of a new parking order. The council is required to publish the proposed order in the car park and in the local press. The council must also consult with the county council (who must consent to the order) and other appropriate organisations including the Police. Cabinet must consider all representations received before making a decision on the order which it is due to do at the meeting in February 2021.
11. Timetable to implement new parking orders
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29 October 2020 |
Start consultation, advertise notice of proposals in local newspapers |
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19 November 2020 |
Close consultation |
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18 December 2020 |
Draft report to senior management team |
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8 January 2021 |
Draft report considered at cabinet briefing |
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4 February 2021 |
Report to Cabinet to consider comments from consultation and make a decision on the proposed new order |
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March 2021 |
New order comes into force (if agreed) |
12. There is a legal duty to draft a new order and consult formally with statutory consultees like the Police and the Highways Authority. To capture as many other comments from the public, businesses and organisations including town and parish councils, and feed back to cabinet, we are carrying out a wide-ranging consultation. This reduces the risk that there is a legal challenge later on which could make the new order invalid. It also allows the Cabinet to make an informed decision.
13. We have a dedicated online survey that will give people a chance to have their say on the proposals for the new parking orders; it will be open for the duration of the formal consultation (29 October to 19 November 2020) and a link is available from the councils website page. https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfordshire-district-council/parking-roads-and-streets/parking/
14. Appendix A has a copy of the survey for councillors to review.
15. Communications are updating the webpages to explain why we are doing the consultation and providing a link to the survey. They will also help promote the survey via social media and send it to all district councillors and all town and parish councils.
16. Officers are carrying out a consultation on changes to the car parking order and the Scrutiny committee is asked to feedback on the questions asked so that officers can report to Cabinet along with the results of the consultation from others.
Appendix A
Consultation on proposed changes to off-street parking in South Oxfordshire (Word version of the online survey).
· The Cabinet decision including authorisation to prepare and publish a draft order and report back to cabinet.
Officer comments
Emma Creed (Finance) Agreed 29 Oct 2020
Anne Richardson (Consultation and Community Engagement) Agreed 27 Oct 2020
Charlotte Westgate (Comms) Agreed 27 Oct 2020
Suzanne Green (Legal) Agreed 27 Oct 2020
