Agenda item

Consider the comments put forward by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, listed in Appendix F, and endorse the resulting actions proposed by the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability as also detailed in Appendix F

Support the proposed changes to car parking tariffs as described in Appendix D from April 2025 and recommend them to the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability for approval and implementation

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability presented the draft Parking Strategy following a public consultation held in autumn 2024. He said that Council had agreed a £1.75million income target for parking in February 2024 and the strategy set out the strategic context and principles to meet the approved income target and the wider ambitions of the Council. 

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that as a listening council, the resident and business engagement had been extensive and 1700 responses had been submitted online and at the in person sessions. He said the strategy aimed to support alternative methods of transport, be balanced and make fairer changes and be environmentally considerate.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that 22 actions had been set in place for the short medium and long term with an altering price structure and abolish paper permits. He hoped the strategy would have an enduring legacy and be a direct deliverer of change. The strategy had been presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2025 and their comments were attached at Appendix F.

Councillor Hoskin proposed that the recommendations in the report be supported. Councillor Glover-Ward seconded the proposal.

Councillor Crystall said that this was a great document and thanked the parking team and the Head of Operations for their hard work in producing it.

Councillor Dumont said that he could not support the recommendations in the report. He said that as a Liberal Democrat, he had a strong commitment to fairness and the car park in Stanstead Abbotts had been previously subsidised by a private donation and as this had now ended, people of the village were now being asked to pay for parking. He felt that this was unfair when similar car parks in Sawbridgeworth and Buntingford did not have to pay for weekend parking. He said that when he voted previously on this, he was told that car parks operating under different rules would be temporary, but the report showed that parking charges were not aligned.

Councillor Goldspink said she agreed with Councillor Dumont and also would not be voting for the recommendations. She said she was in support of the parking strategy overall but could not support once of the charges proposed for Sunday parking in Stanstead Abbotts. She said fairness had not been achieved across all car parks and felt it was within the power of the Executive Member to make this charge nil.

Councillor Wilson said that he had enjoyed talking to residents regarding the parking strategy and had heard a lot of views. He said he would be voting alongside the Liberal Democrats and that there was an unfairness in the mismatch of charges on a Sunday. 

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability thanked the councillors for their comments. He said that this was a staged process with short, medium and long term time frames to structural changes subject to Traffic Regulation Orders. He said he had tried to address fairness throughout the process and the other parking charges in Stanstead Abbotts had been reduced following consultation. He said there was limited scope within the pricing as they needed to recover a considerable amount of money.

Councillor Crystall said that he recognised that there was a disparity, and it was frustrating that Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) could take 18 months to complete but clear reductions had been undertaken across the week and the Sunday charge had remained the same. He said every time the cost was reduced, someone else had to pick it up.

Councillor Dumont asked if a TRO was required to reduce it to nil on a Sunday.

The Head of Operations confirmed it would have to be sent out for consultation.

Councillor Dumont said that Stanstead Abbotts brought in £7k a year more than as projected. He did not believe that reducing Sunday charges would have a negative effect on achieving the income target.

The Head of Operations said that any surplus would be carried across to help meet the income target,

Councillor Estop referred to the Crown Terrace and Jackson Square car parks and the proposed hotel near the station. She said she believed arrangements were in place whereby the hotel has use of some spaces in different car parks and wondered if it was a good use of space to ask people to make awkward journeys coming from a place of limited parking to one with lots.

Councillor Hoskin said it was a fair challenge and any activity around Hockerill junction was not good news. He said the Jackson Square car park fulfilled local needs and there was a demand on spaces thee. He said there was work ongoing offline to see how Hockerill Junction could be improved.

Councillor Glover-Ward asked about resident permit zones and said the current criteria made it difficult for residents’ requests to be accepted.

Councillor Hoskin said the criteria had been set in 2022 and there had not been a successful application since.

The Parking Manager said that the threshold for the parking zones had been recommended to be removed which would hopefully simplify the process.

The motion to support recommendation A having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - That the comments put forward by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were considered, listed in Appendix F, and the resulting actions proposed by the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability as also detailed in Appendix F be endorsed.

The motion to support recommendation B having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – To recommend to Council the approval of the draft Parking Strategy 2025.

The motion to support recommendation C having been proposed and seconded was put to the meeting and upon a vote being taken, was declared CARRIED. It was noted that Councillors Dumont, Goldspink and Wilson voted against the recommendation.

RESOLVED – That the proposed changes to car parking tariffs as described in Appendix D from April 2025 be supported and recommend them to the Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability for approval and implementation