Agenda item

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability presented the Parking Strategy following a public consultation and engagement over five weeks in autumn 2024. He said that the consultation was open to all residents and 1700 responses were received.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability clarified that the strategy was the only recommendation that was to be considered by Council and the parking tariff increases were approved by the Executive at their last meeting. He said that support of the parking strategy was independent of parking charges.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the Council had approved a £1.75 million income target for parking in February 2024 and the parking strategy set the context and principle of the changes to support the income targets and ambitions of the Council. He said that the strategy was designed to ensure that the council effectively managed its parking whilst managing the challenges of growth. The council aimed to discourage non-essential car journeys and use active travel for short trips.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that there was a strong focus on resident and business engagement early on in the process and the consultation responses could be found in Appendix A. Pricing had been used to motivate behaviour change and the strategy had 22 actions based on short, medium, and long term.

Councillor Hoskin proposed that the recommendation in the report be supported. Councillor Wilson seconded the proposal.

Councillor Buckmaster said that he would be voting against the proposal because he said there was a strong move within it to get rid of free parking periods. He felt that smaller towns and villages were being treated differently and following the discussion at the Executive, Sawbridgeworth had kept its free period because of a technicality. He felt that if the strategy took away free weekend parking, then cars would park on street and cause further problems.

Councillor Parsad-Wyatt said there were some important actions in the strategy such as electric vehicle charging points and a move to paperless ticketing. He said however that he would have to vote against the strategy as he was not comfortable with the suggestions in the document. He was concerned that emissions-based pricing would affect the poorest.

Councillor Deering said he echoed the comments of his colleagues. He said there were some actions in the strategy, like reducing emissions, that everyone could be supportive of. However, he felt that emissions-based pricing would discriminate against those who could not afford new cars. He added that residents and business owners did not feel their views had been listened to and he confirmed that the Conservative group would not be supporting the strategy.

Councillor Thomas said that the signs in the East Herts operated car parks were cluttered and could be confusing for visitors. He added that the poorest people in the community did not own cars and have to rely on public transport so the emissions-based pricing would not affect them.

Councillor Watson said that residents in Ware were pleased to see the rules being improved on Resident Parking Zones. He said the direction of travel was hugely encouraging and supported the strategy.

Councillor Copley referred to the comments from Councillor Deering about the impact on businesses. She said it was naïve to think that parking charges were the reason footfall had fallen in towns. She felt the council should be encouraging people to support their local shops and not buy online.

Councillor Hopewell added that research had shown that businesses overestimate those who travel into town and park directly outside their premises. Visitors who drive stay within the towns for longer and were using the shops more.

Councillor Crystall said that one thing Councillor Glover-Ward had been working hard on was helping markets become more successful within the towns to pull visitors in when the high streets were quieter.

Councillor Horner echoed the comments from Councillor Watson and said that it was important to look at the rules around Resident Parking Zones as none had been introduced since the last time the rules were changed.

Councillor Daar said that the young people in her family did not drive and used public transport. She felt the council should lobby the county council for better bus prices.

Councillor Estop said she commended the strategy and the aims had been prepared in a careful way. She felt there was a good sense of fairness and balance on a complex matter.

Councillor McAndrew said that East Herts was a rural and urban district. He said that fuel poverty meant that people in rural areas were finding it difficult to get into the town centres.

Councillor Holt said he represented a rural ward and found that people visited the shops such as the butchers in a short time period because of the free parking available. He said it was often the case that if parking charges were increased then people would visit larger supermarkets on the edge of towns.

Councillor Hart asked if the council would be exploring incentives for car sharing and carpooling as this was a positive initiative.

Councillor Hoskin said that nothing specific had been explored so far but it was worth looking into.

Councillor Wilson said that this strategy attempted to be fair and said that if all areas were given reduced parking charges, there would be no income which the council needed. He said there were lesser chargers in Buntingford, Sawbridgeworth and Stanstead Abbotts and said that the universal decline in footfall in high streets was unlikely to be due to parking charges.

Councillor Hoskin responded to the points raised within the debate. He said there was an ambition to get rid of non-essential journeys and research had shown that 70% of residents live within one or two miles of the town centre.

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

RESOLVED – That the Parking strategy 2025 be approved.