Agenda item

RESOLVED:

Cabinet agreed that:

1.    That Local and Joint Committees should consider, as part of the parking review process, the introduction of on-street parking charges where appropriate to help improve access to retail areas or other facilities be agreed.

2.    That where there is no parking surplus or other funding source to contribute towards a parking review, proposals in the review will be limited to dealing with road safety and obstruction problems rather than parking schemes be agreed.

3.    That the council’s intention be advertised, in accordance with the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 be agreed  to make the following changes to on street parking permits:

            a.        Amend the charge for the first resident permit issued to a household from £50 to £80.

            b.        Amend the charge for 2nd and subsequent resident permits issued to a household from £75 currently to:

·         2nd permit charge £100

·         3rd and subsequent permit charge £130

            c.        The maximum charge for visitor permits can be set at £3 per day where it is considered appropriate by local or joint committees. (Note: the £2 daily charge remains the default)

            d.        We introduce a 2 hour visitor permit, to be available in all permit schemes, costing £1 (see recommendation e. for annual eligibility limits)

            e.        Greater discretion is given to district and borough enforcement teams (and local/joint committees) to set annual visitor permit limits as particular circumstances allow. The maximum however should be set at 150 for daily permits or 250 for 2 hour permits per household per year.

             f.        Carers permits (as described in annex 1) will be issued for free (currently £10 per year, permits for medical and care professionals remain free)

            g.        There is no change to our current policy of assessing and providing disabled bays free of charge.

            h.        We introduce a child care permit (as described in annex 1) at the same rate as a resident permit, the charge dependent on how many resident permits had been issued to the property.

              i.        The statutory notice includes the intention of the council to increase the charge for annual resident parking permits by £4 every 2 years for 6 years.

4.         That following the statutory advertisement of changes described above, the decision to implement the changes be delegated to the Head of Highways & Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways.

5.         That paper permits be phased out by 2021 with a shift to ‘virtual permits’ to reduce waste and improve convenience be agreed.

6.         That new residential developments built within the boundaries of existing permit parking schemes (or CPZ’s) should not automatically qualify for resident permits be agreed and eligibility be determined by a local/joint committee in a parking review or by the Cabinet Member for Highways.

7.         That the following changes to charges made for suspensions and waivers be introduced from April 2020:

a.      The initial charge for a suspension (valid for up to 3 days) be changed from £65 to £75

b.      The charge for each additional day that the suspension is in force be changed from £10 to £12

c.      The initial charge for a parking waiver (valid for up to 3 days) be changed from £15 to £25

d.      The charge for each additional day that a parking waiver is granted be changed from £5 to £6.

8.         That a persistent evader policy is developed and trialled with district and borough enforcement teams that will entail immobilisation or removal of persistent evader vehicles (those whose owners evade payment of parking fines) and that the approval of the final policy is delegated to the Cabinet Member for Highways be agreed.

9.         That from April 2020 a charge of £50 be introduced to assess an application for a new Access Protection Marking (APM) or the extension of an existing one and a charge of £120 to provide a new APM (if the application is successful), or to refresh or extend an existing one be agreed.

10.      That red routes be used in appropriate locations (following national guidance) and enforced by camera if needed to improve flow of traffic be agreed.

11.      That Cameras be used on a trial basis to enforce certain restrictions such as school keep clears to improve safety outside schools. A policy on future use of camera enforcement of parking and other restrictions will be developed and approval sought by the Cabinet Member for Highways in due course.

Reason for decision:

The Surrey County Council (on street) Parking Strategy was adopted in 2011 and sets out our policies about on-street parking regulation and enforcement. It has evolved and developed in the years since and it is now time for a more comprehensive update to ensure it is in alignment with the Community vision 2030 and changes in national legislation. The relevant ambitions of our 2030 vision are outlined below.

Residents live in clean, safe and green communities where people and organisations embrace their environmental responsibilities. The proposals in this report include changes to resident permits that will encourage the use of off street parking thus freeing up road space. Setting increasing charges for multiple permit applications could encourage fewer multi permit applications from a single household (although allowing for this eventuality). Other proposals include ways of improving safety outside schools with camera enforcement of school keep clears and reducing antisocial pavement parking.

On street Electric Vehicle (EV) charging trials are also planned to commence in 2020 in parts of the county to evaluate how this evolving technology might be made more widely available and so encourage the use of electric vehicles.

Businesses in Surrey thrive. Regular parking reviews help keep pace with changes to the wider built environment and the introduction of improved limited waiting facilities near shops and businesses will improve access to them for customers and deliveries.

Journeys across the county are easier, more predictable and safer. Regular parking reviews can keep on top of obstructive parking issues and new powers to introduce red routes and camera enforcement can help improve traffic flow and safety. We will lobby the government to bring in legislation to make ‘footway obstruction’ a civil offence that can be enforced under CPE.

By 2030 we want Surrey to be a uniquely special place where everyone has a great start to life, people live healthy and fulfilling lives, are able to achieve their full potential and contribute to their community and no one is left behind. The provision of free disabled parking bays, medical permits and, carers permits will help improve the mobility of disabled residents as well as access to more vulnerable residents who are in need of care by medical staff or relatives. More flexible visitor permit arrangements will improve access arrangements for some residents.

This policy update also looks at the range of charges we or our enforcement agents make for various parking services in light of the Fees and Charges Policy adopted by Cabinet on the 18 December 2018.  A key principal of this is that users of discretionary services are expected to pay for the full cost of the service being received rather than it being supplemented/paid for by the general tax payer.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee]

The Cabinet Member for Highways introduced a report that set out changes to the council’s on- street parking strategy that had taken account of changes to national legislation, new technology, environmental considerations and to reduce dangerous parking and help keep traffic moving on Surrey roads.  He explained the update of fees and charges for parking permits and on-street parking related services and that whilst it may seem like a big hike in charges, the strategy had not been reviewed for nine years.  He also described some of the many benefits of the new strategy.

Mrs Hazel Watson spoke to this item and objected to recommendations 1 and 2 in relation to Mole Valley and described the detrimental impacts this would have to Dorking town centre.  The Mole Valley Local Committee had voted unanimously against introducing on-street parking charges.  She explained that parking was limited in small clusters over seven sites and the cost of parking machines was prohibitive.

The Cabinet Member for Highways responded that it was for local and joint committees to consider this and no proposals were being made for specific areas. He also stated that Mole Valley operated up to £90K deficit in civil parking enforcement and that it wasn’t appropriate to continue these amounts of deficits going forward without looking at all other options.  He and parking officers were happy to talk to local committees.

Several other members spoke in support of the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

Cabinet agreed that:

1. That Local and Joint Committees should consider, as part of the parking review process, the introduction of on-street parking charges where appropriate to help improve access to retail areas or other facilities be agreed.

2. That where there is no parking surplus or other funding source to contribute towards a parking review, proposals in the review will be limited to dealing with road safety and obstruction problems rather than parking schemes be agreed.

3. That the council’s intention be advertised, in accordance with the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 be agreed to make the following changes to on street parking permits:

                    a.        Amend the charge for the first resident permit issued to a household from £50 to £80.

                    b.        Amend the charge for 2nd and subsequent resident permits issued to a household from £75 currently to:

·         2nd permit charge £100

·         3rd and subsequent permit charge £130

                    c.        The maximum charge for visitor permits can be set at £3 per day where it is considered appropriate by local or joint committees. (Note: the £2 daily charge remains the default)

                    d.        We introduce a 2 hour visitor permit, to be available in all permit schemes, costing £1 (see recommendation e. for annual eligibility limits)

                    e.        Greater discretion is given to district and borough enforcement teams (and local/joint committees) to set annual visitor permit limits as particular circumstances allow. The maximum however should be set at 150 for daily permits or 250 for 2 hour permits per household per year.

                     f.        Carers permits (as described in annex 1) will be issued for free (currently £10 per year, permits for medical and care professionals remain free)

                    g.        There is no change to our current policy of assessing and providing disabled bays free of charge.

                    h.        We introduce a child care permit (as described in annex 1) at the same rate as a resident permit, the charge dependent on how many resident permits had been issued to the property.

                      i.        The statutory notice includes the intention of the council to increase the charge for annual resident parking permits by £4 every 2 years for 6 years.

4. That following the statutory advertisement of changes described above, the decision to implement the changes be delegated to the Head of Highways & Transport in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Highways.

5. That paper permits be phased out by 2021 with a shift to ‘virtual permits’ to reduce waste and improve convenience be agreed.

6. That new residential developments built within the boundaries of existing permit parking schemes (or CPZ’s) should not automatically qualify for resident permits be agreed and eligibility be determined by a local/joint committee in a parking review or by the Cabinet Member for Highways.

7. That the following changes to charges made for suspensions and waivers be introduced from April 2020:

a.    The initial charge for a suspension (valid for up to 3 days) be changed from £65 to £75

b.    The charge for each additional day that the suspension is in force be changed from £10 to £12

c.    The initial charge for a parking waiver (valid for up to 3 days) be changed from £15 to £25

d.    The charge for each additional day that a parking waiver is granted be changed from £5 to £6.

8. That a persistent evader policy is developed and trialled with district and borough enforcement teams that will entail immobilisation or removal of persistent evader vehicles (those whose owners evade payment of parking fines) and that the approval of the final policy is delegated to the Cabinet Member for Highways be agreed.

9. That from April 2020 a charge of £50 be introduced to assess an application for a new Access Protection Marking (APM) or the extension of an existing one and a charge of £120 to provide a new APM (if the application is successful), or to refresh or extend an existing one be agreed.

10. That red routes be used in appropriate locations (following national guidance) and enforced by camera if needed to improve flow of traffic be agreed.

11. That Cameras be used on a trial basis to enforce certain restrictions such as school keep clears to improve safety outside schools. A policy on future use of camera enforcement of parking and other restrictions will be developed and approval sought by the Cabinet Member for Highways in due course.

Reason for decision:

The Surrey County Council (on street) Parking Strategy was adopted in 2011 and sets out our policies about on-street parking regulation and enforcement. It has evolved and developed in the years since and it is now time for a more comprehensive update to ensure it is in alignment with the Community vision 2030 and changes in national legislation. The relevant ambitions of our 2030 vision are outlined below.

Residents live in clean, safe and green communities where people and organisations embrace their environmental responsibilities. The proposals in this report include changes to resident permits that will encourage the use of off street parking thus freeing up road space. Setting increasing charges for multiple permit applications could encourage fewer multi permit applications from a single household (although allowing for this eventuality). Other proposals include ways of improving safety outside schools with camera enforcement of school keep clears and reducing antisocial pavement parking.

On street Electric Vehicle (EV) charging trials are also planned to commence in 2020 in parts of the county to evaluate how this evolving technology might be made more widely available and so encourage the use of electric vehicles.

Businesses in Surrey thrive. Regular parking reviews help keep pace with changes to the wider built environment and the introduction of improved limited waiting facilities near shops and businesses will improve access to them for customers and deliveries.

Journeys across the county are easier, more predictable and safer. Regular parking reviews can keep on top of obstructive parking issues and new powers to introduce red routes and camera enforcement can help improve traffic flow and safety. We will lobby the government to bring in legislation to make ‘footway obstruction’ a civil offence that can be enforced under CPE.

By 2030 we want Surrey to be a uniquely special place where everyone has a great start to life, people live healthy and fulfilling lives, are able to achieve their full potential and contribute to their community and no one is left behind. The provision of free disabled parking bays, medical permits and, carers permits will help improve the mobility of disabled residents as well as access to more vulnerable residents who are in need of care by medical staff or relatives. More flexible visitor permit arrangements will improve access arrangements for some residents.

This policy update also looks at the range of charges we or our enforcement agents make for various parking services in light of the Fees and Charges Policy adopted by Cabinet on the 18 December 2018.  A key principal of this is that users of discretionary services are expected to pay for the full cost of the service being received rather than it being supplemented/paid for by the general tax payer.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Communities, Environment and Highways Select Committee]

Mr Colin Kemp left the room for two minutes at the end of this item.