Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report on a review of car parking within the District. The report comprised a detailed analysis of the existing provision of parking in Bromsgrove and was intended to provide a complete context against which Members could consider any changes they may wish to introduce.

As part of the consideration of the report the Portfolio Holder made reference to the work undertaken by the Bromsgrove Older People’s Forum in collating comments calling for lower car park charges. This included a petition comprising approximately 100 signatures, together with 71 completed pro forma and 20 comments received via Email.

The Cabinet considered the report in detail, in particular the following issues:

·         financial implications of changes to the charging structure and the subsequent potential impact on expenditure on services such as Shopmobility and town centre improvements;

·         the town centre economy and the vacancy rate within the town centre;

·         the town centre development proposals and the likely impact of these on a number of the car parks within the town;

·         the existing support for car park users including a flexible payment tariff, the availability of permits and the additional hour for Blue Badge holders;

·         the current capacity of the car parks, including a breakdown of the types of spaces available;

·         the existing charges and a full record of previous changes in parking tariffs since 2005; 

·         the overall number of ticket sales and income generated over a six year period;

·         the income from Excess Charge Notices and off street Parking Contravention Notices, including the reduction in income following a change in enforcement policy;

·         an analysis of the length of stay in both short stay and long stay car parks and the split between morning, afternoon and evening usage;

·         the introduction of the Civil Parking Enforcement regime in May 2013;

·         a detailed comparison of the costs of parking in Bromsgrove with the cost of parking in neighbouring and/or similar areas. As was to be expected this indicated that Bromsgrove was cheaper than some Authorities for some periods and more expensive than others;

·         the recent visit of officers to Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council as  it had been suggested that Bromsgrove may wish to  adopt a similar policy to that Authority by reducing car park charges. The report detailed the likely reduction in income this would entail for Bromsgrove and the uncertainty over the outcome of the changes introduced in Altrincham.  

The Cabinet felt the report covered all aspects of car parking in Bromsgrove in great detail and provided a comprehensive picture of the current position. Thanks were expressed to officers for the work undertaken on the report.

Cabinet noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Board had included car parking within the Board's Work Programme. Therefore in order that the report could be considered in detail by a wider range of Members it was

RESOLVED that the Overview and Scrutiny Board be requested to consider the report, together with the representations received as a result of the petition and to feedback views/comments to the Cabinet.