Councillor Keen, Cabinet Members for
Neighbourhoods gave a presentation to the Panel and made the
following comments:
- The request for a parking strategy
review was proposed by Councillor Crittenden and Full Council
agreed the proposal;
- This would be a district wide review
to establish the view of service users and then get down to the
detail of what needed to be done for the district;
- Council draw up a brief that was
used for the tender to secure a consultant for the review;
- The intention was to make the review
as broad as was possible, bearing in mind that parking had to
support the economics growth for Thanet;
- Significant investments were coming
into the district and the Council needed to be prepared for
that;
- The review would look at the daytime
and night time economic activities in the district and aligning
with Net Zero Strategy, the Local Plan and government policy like
the Green Agenda;
- The review would take into
consideration the changes in shopping habits that were emerging
with more online shopping and delivery of purchases to residents'
homes;
- The four week review would start on
29 January 2024. A councillor consultation was planned for 30
January 2024 with the public consultation starting on 5 February
2024;
- Public consultation meetings would
be both in-person and online;
- The Comms team would work alongside
the delivery of the Strategy and Action Plan;
- The tender for the review was put
out in August 29023 and awarded in December 2023. Twelve companies
had submitted bids for this tender;
- It was important for the public to
take part in this review through the consultation process.
Members asked questions and made comments as
follows:
- One Member asked if this review was
going to be backed by the Joint Transportation Board;
- Would cyclists and other road users
be part of the consultation process?
- Was the four week consultation
period long enough for this piece of work?
- A significant amount of what TDC
would do after the review depended on KCC, the Highways Authority.
With this in mind, how was the Council going to engage KCC?
- There currently was no budget
associated with this review process. How were the review results
going to be implemented?
- Some Members understood that KCC was
going to take back responsibility for the Decrim reserves. Was that
still going ahead?
- One Member said that they welcomed
the approach that would see the public being consulted on the
current situation regarding parking in the district. What level of
autonomy did TDC have over residents parking schemes?
- Could parking schemes have their own
budgets in order to fund their own activities?
- Would this review give residents an
opportunity to give feedback regarding yellow lines?
- There was a need to enforce the
strategy once the review had been concluded. There was therefore a
need for a recommendation for robust recruitment of enforcement
officers.
Penny Button, Head of Neighbourhoods and
Councillor Keen responded to Member questions and comments as
follows:
- KCC were the Highways Authority and
they would be engaged as part of the review process;
- TDC would also engage KCC when the
draft Strategy has been produced;
- This stage of the review was about
understanding what residents wanted;
- The new strategy would give the
Council a road map for planning for the long term future of the
Decrim fund;
- KCC had not made a final decision on
whether they were taking back all income from parking;
- With regards to residents’
schemes; not everyone wanted them;
- It was also important to look at the
issue of parking on pavement options for some areas. There were
opportunities for generating income;
- The Council also ought to consider
on street cycling;
- The new strategy would be used to
lobby KCC on issues related to parking and traffic management;
- The Portfolio Holder agreed that
effective enforcement would make the strategy a success.
Members noted the presentation.