Agenda item

Penny Button introduced the report and made the following comments:

·  The process to develop a new Parking Strategy for the district was nearly at the end of its journey. However, the Council is at the beginning of the journey to implement it;

·  Two consultations were conducted over the year, one at the beginning of the year whilst the second one took place at the end of July and went through August into September, over eight weeks in total;

·  The Council had received nearly 5,000 responses. This was a pleasing response rate. The responses were generally positive and supportive of the proposals;

·  Thanet District Parking Strategy would ensure that there was high quality and appropriately located parking that supported economic development and regeneration. The strategy would prioritise an active and sustainable transport system. It would also provide a positive parking experience for residents, businesses and visitors;

·  The proposed strategy had eight objectives which would feed into 52 actions. Of the 52 actions, 30 were for off-street and 22 for on-street parking. These actions were broken down into quick wins, short-term, medium and long-term actions;

·  The strategy was for a 20 year period as some aspects of the strategy were going to take a long time to put in place. The quick wins were things that would be achieved in the first 12 months. The short term would cover a period of one to two years, medium term was for three to four years and long term was five years and above. The strategy would be subject to regular reviews;

·  The initial implementation plan would focus on quick wins such as getting approval for using parking revenue to support the strategy through the process of getting cabinet agreement;

·  Other actions being considered for the first 12 months are signage strategy, including both static and variable message signage, a review of car park names, spatial zoning of the car parks and possibly a payment option study;

·  There was a need for a feasibility study to deliver more coach parking bays and where they could be located. Currently there are not enough;

·  The Council is considering the development of an electric vehicle strategy, a car club feasibility study and also a bike hanger policy by redeveloping their web pages which was something that the team was keen on doing;

·  Review the residents' parking scheme, building a consistent approach and policy across the district, so that everybody knows how to apply for one, what it would look like and how residence permit schemes work.

·  86% of the respondents were in support of both the vision and the strategy. Response came from across the whole district. There was some division to individual questions. 35% of the respondents were unsure or opposed to improved technology. The most divisive question focused on the creation of a flexible tariff structure with 38% of the respondents supporting and 45% opposing.

Members asked questions and made comments as follows:

·  Some of the observations from the consultation were that there was room for improvements in Margate;

·  Mill Lane was very useful, but it was a bit dirty and this was to be expected. Why were so many cars allowed to park adjacent outside Mill Lane Car Park, on the yellow lines?

·  The Council could consider using modern technology in Trinity Square. That would mean getting rid of people to man the system and the cash and then put out automatic barriers;

·  However what would happen within a few weeks was that the barriers would get smashed because drivers cannot get out. These barriers would then not get replaced, which in turn would result in a lot of revenue being lost;

·  The proposed strategy should consider that the number of cars is going to increase as new housing development takes place in the district;

·  Parking was a big issue in the Ramsgate Harbour Street as it was always full, night and day other than at 10pm when most places closed.

·  Yellow line parking enforcement should be increased.

·  Coach parking was an interesting idea. Where would the parking sites be located? Would these be in Ramsgate or Margate?

·  Part of the strategy was to get cars into car parks. For that to work that had to be attractive. Therefore viable and attractive charges have to be considered;

·  There should not be a war against cars as the elderly population relied on the use of cars. There should be some facilities for the elderly population;

·  Council had to control local planning activities. Development near town centres should be controlled;

·  There was a diagnostic centre being set up in Westwood Road. This was a busy road and the centre would require parking facilities;

·  The centre would fail if there was no parking for the facility;

·  Members were interested in creative solutions, such as car clubs and collaboration with supermarkets. Was the Council going to collaborate with schools and supermarkets?

·  Members welcomed the strategy, but it would be a challenge to implement it, particularly as the population was set to grow.

Penny Button responded to Member comments and questions as follows:

·  Mill Lane was difficult to police. They enforce it regularly, and people drive off, so it was instant tickets because the place was kerb marked with yellow lines;

·  The main problem was caused primarily by drivers waiting for deliveries of food. TDC officers were in discussions with the police regarding enforcement;

·  With regards to Trinity Square; that was a trial that was put in place by some predecessors within TDC. The trial did not work and everyone was open about it;

·  A lot of lessons were learnt around the need for back office support which was not in place (during the trial) in order to assist people;

·  There would be discussions on where to place the coach parking facilities;

·  As part of the strategy the Council would consider number plate reading technology;

·  The Council would consider the pricing structure for parking in order to make it attractive;

·  The strategy was about how the Council provided for buses, cars and bikes;

·  The Council had a collaborative arrangement for parking with TESCOs in Newington.

Members noted the report.