Agenda item

Question 1

Councillor R Henson commented that many residents in Sele had expressed concern about the impact on local street parking, following the closure of the Bridge House car park, which would affect residents in other parts of Hertford too.  He asked the Executive Member for Economic Development if he would set out the measures being considered to help ensure that the impact on residents was as small as possible.  He also asked if he agreed that Network Rail should play its part and work with the Council to find solutions to this challenge.

In reply, the Executive Member for Economic Development regretted the closure which had been outside of the Council’s control.  Officers had looked at alternative parking options in the vicinity, but much of the area was subject to parking controls, thus the negative impact on commuters.  He further advised that talks with Govia Thameslink Railway were ongoing and various options were being explored.  However, there was unlikely to be an immediate solution.

Question 2

Councillor P Ruffles asked the Chairman of the Environment Scrutiny Committee if he would provide information about his task and finish group looking into sustainable transport and give an update about progress so far.  Given the very high figures for car ownership in the District, he wondered what alternatives were being considered and how members of the public could become involved to share their knowledge and expertise.

In response, the Chairman of the Environment Scrutiny Committee stated that two meetings had been held so far with evidence gathered from a number of expert witnesses.  Further meetings were scheduled and the group would be reporting early in 2017.  Any suggestions or ideas would be welcome and a specific email address had been set up and publicised to encourage public input.

Question 3

Councillor B Deering commented on the acute pressure in relation to commuter parking at both Hertford North and Hertford East stations.  Residential parking zones could have the unintended consequence of relocating parking pressures to other areas to the detriment of those local residents, or even reducing the total available car parking capacity, which could give rise to traffic management and safety issues.  For example, commuters from Hertford East believe that many spaces reserved for residents in the nearby RPZ are empty during the day but still unavailable for others to use, which forces commuter parking into other streets and areas of the town.  Elsewhere, there were schemes which permitted limited stranger parking in residential streets in RPZs.  He asked the Executive Member for Economic Development if he could liaise with Officers to bring forward proposals that would enable more parking for commuters, thereby better safeguarding residents' parking requirements.

In reply, the Executive Member for Economic Development referred to the revised policy on RPZs that had been agreed in October 2015, which had included a number of actions relating to “shared use” parking.  Officers were investigating and a report would be submitted in 2017.  He acknowledged that this issue might be controversial in some areas but needed to be looked at as a way of achieving better efficiencies.