Car park fees for 2024-25
Recommendations
(a) Cabinet
to agree the car parking fees for the financial year 2024-25.
In addition, if cabinet does
agree to amend the fees and charges that require a change in the
car parking fees or order, to:
(b)
authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic to prepare a Notice of
Variation under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 for publishing
in the local newspaper and all affected car parks. (Or
authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic to prepare and publish a
draft order under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984)
(c)
authorise the Head of Development and Corporate Landlord to oversee
necessary communications and consultations and report back to
Cabinet.
|
Purpose of Report
1. This
report provides information to help cabinet decide if it chooses to
amend the car park fees and charges in the Vale of White Horse
District Council’s three market towns of Abingdon, Faringdon
and Wantage.
2. Reviewing
the car park fees and charges each year is in line with the
council’s car park policy as updated in 2022.
Corporate Objectives
3. The
provision and pricing of car parking supports the Vale
Council’s Corporate Plan 2020/24 and strategic objective
three (building healthy communities) by encouraging the switch to
more active sustainable travel options, improving air quality and
supports objective four (building stable finances) by maximising
income available to the council.
4. Reviewing
how much we charge for car park fees also supports our Corporate
Plan objective three, “action on the climate
emergency”. Transport, including fossil fuel vehicles, makes
up the largest share of the UK’s carbon emissions. Using
mediums such as car park fees may have the ability to influence
changes in transport behaviour, and support a move towards
alternative, sustainable modes of transport such as active travel
like walking, public transport and cycling.
Background
5. The new
car park policy as agreed by cabinet in August 2022 included
guidance from the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 which states
that local authority parking enforcement should be self-financing,
and we should aim for our parking income to at least meet the cost
of managing and running our car parks.
6. The
current fees and charges and the price of permits (and the previous
years’ fees) are shown in Appendix 1 and a comparison of car
park fees with other neighbouring car parks is shown in Appendix
2.
7. In
February 2022 the cabinet agreed to make changes to the car park
fees as below, which was implemented on 4 April 2022:
A. To
reduce free parking from two hours to one hour and introduce a
charge of £1.50 for up to two hours.
B. Increase
all current fees by 40 pence.
C. To
make permits non-transferable between car parks.
8. Officers
estimated that the above changes would increase income by
£218,000 per year. In reality the income from car park
fees increased from £245,000 in 2021-22 to £503,000 in
2022-23, an increase of £258,000.
9. Last year
in December 2022, cabinet agreed to increase permits by 10
percent. This was implemented on 4 April 2023.
10. Officers estimated that the increase
in the cost of permits would increase the income by £7,000 per
year. Year to date (up to period six) show parking season
ticket income at £40,187 against half year budget of
£35,268, so £4,919 above budget after six months.
11. Cabinet agreed to stop issuing any
new residential permits from December 2020. All new
applicants now pay the ‘normal’ permit price and
no new resident permits are being issued. After 2024, only regular
parking permits will be available. For those residents
that had residential permits prior to this change it was agreed for
existing residential permit holders to increase their permits by 10
percent each year for four years, so these residential permit
holders would still get a lower rate, but no new residential
permits would be issued. Residential permits are only renewed
for those customers who had them before they were stopped in
2020.
12. Please see the table 1 below which
shows the increase in cost in permits as already agreed from 1
April 2024.
Options for fees and charges
19. Based on the current usage and
estimated income and expenditure shown in Table 2, considering the
estimated deficit of £93,458 in 2023-24 and increasing in the
medium term, officers propose a number of options in order to set
the car park account to at least ‘break even’ in the
medium term.
Table 3. Summary of options
|
Option
|
Description
|
Estimated change in revenue (pa)
|
Communications campaign recommended?
|
Can be dealt with
by a Notice of Variation?
|
|
A
|
No change
|
£0
|
No
|
N/A
|
|
B
|
Remove the one-hour free
parking and charge a nominal amount of 50p.
|
+£300,000
|
Yes
|
No, require formal consultation and a new Order
|
|
C
|
Extend Sunday parking charges to all car parks
|
+£40,000
|
Yes
|
No, require formal consultation and a new Order
|
|
D
|
A proposed differential pricing structure using a higher tier of
charging for town centre car parks and a lower tier of charging for
car parks on edge of town (maintain one hour free).
|
+£50,000
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
E1
E2
E3
|
Evening charging:
-
a flat fee of £1 from 6pm to 9pm or,
-
extend charging period until 9pm Monday to Saturday (currently
6pm)
-
extend charging period until 7pm Monday to Saturday
|
+£95,000
+£160,000
+£53,000
|
Yes
Yes
|
No, all options require formal consultation and a new Order
|
|
F
|
Half price permits for zero emission vehicles
|
Reduced by £5,000
|
Yes
|
No, require formal consultation and a new Order
|
|
G
|
Increase the cost of permits by 10%
|
+£6,800
|
Contact existing permit holders
|
Yes
|
|
H
|
Increase fees across the board by 10%.
|
+£50,000
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
I
|
Increase overnight parking for campervans to £10.00 per
overnight stay.
|
De minimis
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
20. Option A. Make no change to the fees and continue to
operate car parks at a deficit. This option would go against
the agreed policy to provide parking at a cost which falls on the
users and not the council taxpayer.
21.Option
B. Remove the free parking and charge a nominal amount of 50p
for up to one hour. This option would largely bring the
account to a balanced state.
22. Option C. Extend Sunday
parking charges to all car parks. Currently Sunday charging
only applies to three car parks in Abingdon (Rye Farm, Hales Meadow
and Abbey Close). There are a further five car parks in Abingdon,
two car parks in Faringdon and in Wantage three car parks, a total
of ten car parks where Sunday charging could be applied. This
option would provide a marginal increase in income of £40,000
which would not be sufficient to ‘break even’.
23. Option D. Creating
‘higher rate’ parking spaces closest to the major
amenities, by increasing the fees in those car parks closest to the
town centre only (Civic, Cattlemarket and West St Helen’s St.
and Abbey Close in Abingdon, Portway and Mill St car park in
Wantage and Southampton St. car park in Faringdon).
24. At the same time, the fees in car
parks situated on the edges of the town centre would decrease
slightly (Audlett Drive, Rye Farm and Hales Meadow in Abingdon,
Gloucester St in Faringdon and Limborough Rd. in Wantage). Please
see table 4b below for proposed fees.
25. This option is estimated to increase
income by £50,000 which would go some way to having a
break-even account.
26. Options E1, E2 and E3.
Officers do not have any formal usage figures for evening parking
after 6pm but anecdotal evidence and informal observations suggest
the usage is quite high up to 9pm, Monday to Saturday. The
estimated increase in income (E1 £95,000/E2 £160,000/E3
£53,000) includes for the extra cost of additional enforcement
6pm to 9pm. The current charging times are Monday to Saturday
8am to 6pm in most car parks. If agreed the extended charging
period would not apply on a Sunday to those car parks that charge
(Rye Farm, Hales Meadow and Abbey close car parks charge 8am to 6pm
on Sundays).
27. Option F. Half price permits for
plug-in EVs. This will be in line with the Vale’s
actions on climate change to become carbon neutral within our
operations by 2030.
28. Option G. Increase in cost of
permits by 10 percent to be considered together with option H
below.
29. Option H. Increase all fees
across the board by ten percent. This increase in income of
an estimated £50,000 would follow the economic pattern of
increases in the economy measured against price indexes but not be
sufficient to cover all the costs of running the car parks.
30. Option I. Parking for camper
vans and overnight sleeping in Hales Meadow car park, Abingdon
increase from £7.00 to £10.00 per night. The increase in income is marginal to this
option.
31. A new order will be required for the
main Vale car parks and a separate one for Rye Farm and Hales
Meadow car parks as, although owned by the Vale, these car parks,
for the purposes of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, come
within the administration area for South Oxfordshire District
Council.
Table 4a.
A proposed differential pricing structure (town centre
car parks in yellow and edge of town car parks in blue showing
current fees)
|
Location/
Postcode
|
1
Hours
|
2
Hours
|
3
Hours
|
4
Hours
|
6
Hours
|
Over
6 Hours
|
Motor
Home 24hr
|
Operational
|
|
|
|
Days
|
Times
|
|
|
|
Abingdon
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Abbey
Close - OX143JE
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
4.20
|
5.10
|
6.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Audlett
Drive - OX14 3ND
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
4.20
|
5.10
|
6.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cattlemarket
- OX14 3JE
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
4.20
|
5.10
|
6.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Civic
- OX14 3JH
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
4.20
|
5.10
|
6.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hales
Meadow - OX14 3NN
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
3.90
|
4.60
|
5.10
|
7.00
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rye
Farm - OX14 3NN
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
3.90
|
4.60
|
5.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
West
St Helen Street - OX14 5BU
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
4.20
|
5.10
|
6.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Charter
Level 1 - 2 - OX14 3LZ
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.30
|
|
|
|
|
Sat
Only
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Faringdon
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gloucester
Street - SN7 7HY
|
Free
|
1.50
|
1.80
|
3.20
|
3.40
|
3.60
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Southampton
Street - SN7 7AZ
|
Free
|
Free
|
1.90
|
|
|
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wantage
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Limborough
Road - OX12 9AJ
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.10
|
3.70
|
4.10
|
4.60
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mill
Street - OX12 9AJ
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.10
|
3.70
|
4.10
|
4.60
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
Portway
- OX12 9BU
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.10
|
4.10
|
5.10
|
6.10
|
|
Mon
- Sun
|
08:00
- 18:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table 4b. Officers propose a simplified fee
structure as below:
|
Location/
Postcode
|
1
Hours
|
2
Hours
|
3
Hours
|
4
Hours
|
6
Hours
|
Over
6 hours
|
Motor
homes
|
Operational
|
|
Days
|
Times
|
|
Town
centre car parks
|
Free
|
2.00
|
3.00
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
6.00
|
N/A
|
As
above
|
|
Edge
of town car parks
|
Free
|
1.50
|
2.00
|
3.00
|
4.00
|
5.00
|
10.00
|
As
above
|
32. Options E1, E2 and E3. Extend
the charging period to raise income in the evening from 6pm to 9pm
– a flat fee of £1 after 6pm or, extend the charging
period until 9pm Monday to Saturday and keep current charging
regime or, incremental increase in the charging period by one hour
each year(until 7pm in 2024/25, until 8pm in 2025/26 and until 9pm
in 2026/27). Depending on the option, Officers estimate the
net increase in income of between £95,000, £160,000 and
£53,000 per year (including enforcement costs). This
estimate is based on usage during the day as evening usage
information is not available.
33. Option F. Half price permits
for zero emission vehicles. The total income from permits in
2022/23 was £74,957. Officers estimate relatively slow uptake
in the first year reducing the income £5,000.
34. Option G. Increase the cost of
permits in line with inflation i.e. 9.1 percent in August 2023,
rounded up. Officers estimate the increase in income will be
£6,800 pa.
35. Option H. Increase all fees by
the current price index of nine percent (rounded up). This
would increase income by an estimated £50,000 per year as
shown in table 5 below.
Table 5.
Proposed increases of all fees by price index
|
|
Current
price
|
Proposed
increase by 9% (rounded up)
|
|
Up to one hour
|
Free
|
Free
|
|
Up to 2 hours
|
£1.50
|
£1.70
|
|
Up to 3 hours
|
£2.30
|
£2.60
|
|
Up to 4 hours
|
£3.90
|
£4.30
|
|
Up to 6 hours
|
£4.60
|
£5.10
|
|
Over 6 hours
|
£5.10
|
£5.60
|
Economic development
implications
36.Research
undertaken by the Institute of Place Management on behalf of the
High Streets Taskforce list car parking as one of 237 'Vital and
Viable' factors that influence the success of high streets. This
research (last updated in November 2021) lists car parking as the
45th most influential factor. (Car parking for the purpose of
the study refers to the number or availability of parking spaces,
parking costs, maximum parking duration, the location of parking
spaces, and the diversity of parking supply).
37. Seen alongside 236 other influential
factors, it should be understood that although parking is regarded
as highly influential, it should not be viewed in isolation as a
factor that will dictate the success of the high street
economy.
38. Guidance on Parking Provision in
Town and City Centres published in the study “Re-Think!
Parking on the High Street (2013) suggests that the
“value” of car parking is more important than the cost.
Value in this respect includes both the location and proximity of
parking to attractions. Relevant to Vale’s market towns, the
report suggests that “smaller locations, with relatively
fewer attractions (retail and otherwise) need to carefully consider
their parking provision and fees”.
39. Option A. No increase in fees
could demonstrate support for local businesses.
40. Remaining options from B to H.
Any increases in fees could negatively affect footfall to Vale town
centres and is likely to cause concern within the business
community as they’re impacted by the current economic climate
and cost of living crisis. Businesses in the Vale’s market
towns have struggled in recent years with the growth of nearby
shopping centres in Oxford and Didcot and internet shopping. Many
businesses will think it will discourage local people to make short
visits to town centres if the cost of parking is increased.
41. Increasing fees in town centre car
parks and thereby encouraging parking at edge of town sites could
be seen as having both negative and positive aspects for the
economy of our market towns. Reduced congestion and pollution can
be positive for perceptions of place, creating a more attractive
experience for residents and visitors alike. It may also benefit
occupiers on arterial routes into towns via increased passing
footfall. Conversely, increasing the distance between attractions
and parking is unlikely to be positively received by local
retailers, and may disadvantage (or otherwise alienate) residents
who are less able to walk longer distances to retail centres
including those with young children, those with underlying health
conditions that do not qualify for a disabled parking badge, or
those with personal safety concerns from accessing and supporting
local businesses.
42. For option I, the council parking
contractor report very good take up of the bays for camper vans in
Hales Meadow car park in Abingdon. Officers have also had
good feedback from users as the type of offer of casual parking for
camper vans in a location close to the town centre is quite rare in
Oxfordshire.
43. Appendix 2 compares car park fees
and charges to neighbouring local authorities and shows that
current fees remain competitive, even after the increase.
44. Over the last three years, Vale
Chambers of Commerce, business groups and individual businesses
continually assert that the Vale needs free parking like Witney.
They believe that Witney town centre thrives due to the free
parking and residents will travel to Witney instead of
Abingdon/Faringdon/Wantage if the free parking in the Vale is
removed. To date no firm evidence has been gathered or
provided.
45. Planning Policy have
commissioned a town centres and retail study to help inform the new
joint local plan. This report is in progress and will undertake a
health check of Vale’s market towns, while this study
won’t examine the impact of parking charges on the town
centres, information on accessibility and pedestrian flows will be
included within the final reports, detailing public transport and
active travel links to our town centres that could present an
opportunity for future marketing.
46.Current
indications are that leisure and hospitality service providers are
occupying a higher proportion of local town centre premises, that
may indicate longer parking stays are likely as the focus of the
high street changes from retail to more experience led
occupancy.
Climate and ecological impact
implications
47. Option A. Continuing to offer
a period of free parking of one hour may encourage increased
vehicle turnover in the town centres and impact negatively on the
air quality.
48. Options B to
I. Vale of White Horse District
Council has agreed a target to work towards being carbon neutral
within our operations by 2030, with an aim for a 75 percent
reduction in our emissions by 2025, and for the Vale to be a carbon
neutral district by 2045.
49.Having
reduced fees on the edge of towns may reduce congestion and air
pollution in the centre of towns if more users choose to park in
car parks on the edge of towns and walk into the town
centres.
50. Option F. Clearly demonstrates
the initiative to encourage the take up of electric vehicles and
therefore reduce pollution from combustion engine vehicle
emissions. Climate officers support low-cost parking for EV
vehicles owners although it is unlikely to be a key motivator.
Introducing reduced price permits for EV’s shows positive
commitment from the council to the strategic objectives and could
be actively promoted through the Communications team.
Financial Implications
51. Refer to summary table 3 (paragraph
19) for estimated changes in total fee income for each option.
52. Any council decision that has
financial implications must be made with the knowledge of the
council’s overarching financial position. For Vale, the
position reflected in the council’s medium-term financial
plan (MTFP) as reported to full Council in February 2023 showed
that the council was able to set a balanced budget for 2023/24, but
that there is expected to be a budget gap in future years.
However, there is great uncertainty over this caused by a lack of
clarity from government.
53. The future funding
gap is predicted to increase to over £7.8 million by 2027/28,
based on current cautious officer estimates of future funding
levels. Whilst it is anticipated that overall funding for the
council will remain relatively unchanged in 2024/25, the lack of
certainty on future local government funding from 2025/26 onwards
means the level of funding, and the resulting estimated funding
gap, could be significantly different from current officer
estimates in either a positive or negative way. Every
financial decision, particularly those involving medium-term
funding commitments (i.e. those beyond 2024/25), needs to be
cognisant of the potential for significant funding gaps in future
years.
54.Under CPE the
car park account should be clear and transparent and published to
show the council is not making excess surplus income.
55. In line with legislation under the
Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 para 55 (2), at the end of the
financial year any deficit in the (car park) account shall be made
good out of the general fund.
56. Any surplus income generated from
these increases will need to be used in accordance with the Road
Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Section 55 specific definitions
(Highways, car parks, free public open spaces and recreational
facilities).
57.Changes to
the schedule can be made by placing Notices in the car parks and by
advertising in local newspapers at a cost of £5,000 per Notice
which can be met from existing car park budgets. A change to
the Order will require advertising a draft Schedule to allow for
feedback from the public and a further Notice for the making of the
new Order.
58. If a simplified charging system is
adopted, future amendments to the car park fees will be easier to
manage and at less cost as the advert in the newspaper would be a
lot smaller.
Legal Implications
59. A Notice Of Variation under the
regulation covers tariff changes only and the Notice requires you
to state what the charges are now and what the charges are going to
be when the Notice comes into force. It is designed purely to
allow for tariffs to be increased on a yearly basis without the
need for going through the full making of an Order.
60. Any change other than a tariff
change falls outside a Notice of Variation. These should not
be dealt with by a Notice of Variation, because it is not a change
to an existing tariff but rather the introduction of an additional
charge. This would include the case when there is no
charge.
61. Option
A being no change to the current Order.
62. Option B is to remove the
one-hour free parking and charge a nominal amount of 50p.
When the two free hours was reduced to one free hour, this was
dealt with by way of a Variation Order with advice that there could
be a risk of challenge due to the negative public opinion that
would be generated by such a measure. Whilst there was
negative feedback, no legal challenge was received. However,
Option B is introducing something that doesn’t already exist
i.e. a charge of 50p and therefore a new order will need to be made
at significant cost and officer time.
63. Option C is to extend Sunday
parking charges to all car parks for which it is agreed that a new
car parking order will be required because if charges don’t
currently exist for those car parks then something different is
being introduced.
64. Option D is a proposed
differential pricing structure using a higher tier of charging for
town centre car parks and a lower tier of charging for car parks on
edge of town. If this was solely making tariff changes to the
charges already payable then this could be dealt with by way of a
variation order, but within the report, this option also takes away
the current free hour for some car parks and so therefore a new
order for this option will be required.
65. Options E1, E2 and E3
are evening charges– a flat fee of £1 from 6pm
to 9pm or extend current charging regime until 9pm or an
incremental increase of one hour each year. A new order will
be required to either introduce a change to the charging period or
to introduce a fee that doesn’t currently exist.
66. Option F is half price
permits for zero emission vehicles. As this is introducing
something new to the current Vale order, a new order will be
required.
67. Option G - the increase
the cost of permits by 10 percent can be dealt with by way of a
variation order.
68. Option H – the fees
increase across the board by ten percent can be dealt with by way
of a variation order.
69. Option I – the increase
in daily fees can be made by Notice.
70. Point to note: where a new
order is required for Vale then a new order will be needed for the
main Vale car parks and a separate one for Rye Farm and Hales
Meadow car parks because although owned by the Vale, these car
parks, for the purposes of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984,
come within the administration area for South Oxfordshire District
Council.
71.The purpose
of having car park orders under Section 32 of the 1984 Road Traffic
Regulations Act (RTRA) is for ‘relieving or preventing
congestion of traffic’. Under the new civil parking
regulations, the council has no legal powers to set parking fees at
a higher level than that needed to achieve this. The council
meets this requirement by having off-street carparks which are
accessible and well used meaning that people do not park on the
highway which may cause traffic congestion.
72.Statutory
guidance under section 87 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 states
the financial objectives of CPE are to run enforcement operations
efficiently, effectively and economically. The Secretary of State
will not expect local or national taxpayers to meet any
deficit.
Communications Implications
73. Any of the options agree will have
an impact on users of the car park. Given the current
economic climate, the need to be transparent and to provide
background information to reasons for the changes, officers
recommend a communications campaign to inform stakeholders.
74.Options B, C
D and E are major changes requiring formal consultation and
support by communications officers. If agreed officers would
aim to implement the changes by 1 June 2024.
75.Relatively
simple changes to the fees (options F, G, H and I) can be done by
Notice and implemented by 1 April 2024.
76. The outcome of any changes to be
clearly communicated to the public by social media and on the
council website.
Equality and Diversity
77. The council continues to offer
parking at no charge for users displaying a ‘blue
badge’.
78. The council aims to meet the
national standard of at least five percent of car park bays as
extra wide bays dedicated to blue badge users.
79. Creating parking cheaper on the edge
of town may be challenged by users with mobility issues. Reduced
price parking on the edge of towns may be considered as
discriminating against those less capable of walking into town
centres. Whilst disabled parking is provided in all of our car
parks, further equality impact assessment may be required to pursue
this option.
Risks
80. Option A. By continuing
to offer a period of free parking the Council could be criticised
for not taking the opportunity to actively tackle climate issues by
discouraging customers traveling by car. If the fees are not
increased, the Council could be criticised for not tackling the
deficit of car parking account and going against its own
policy. Funds from the general account will be required to
balance the car park account.
81. Options B to I. Potential reputational damage to
the Council from negative media coverage for the loss of the free
period and increase in fees/change to charging periods. Also,
the risk highlighted above if car parks are more expensive in the
centre of towns and may be challenged by those less able
bodied.
82.By increasing
the fees, the Council could be criticised for not taking the
opportunity to actively support businesses in town centres.
Increasing parking fees may change people’s habits and they
could choose to shop elsewhere. This may impact on the
businesses in the town and the car park revenue if the number of
visitors to the towns reduces. There is also a risk
that due to price elasticity of demand that any projected increase
in revenue may be less than estimated.
Conclusion
83.The report
has set out a range of options for Cabinet to consider in
paragraphs 19 to 35. In setting the fees and charges for the
financial year 2024-25, the options provide a range of
interventions and there are implications to be considered.
There is a balance to be struck between the revenue position, and
the economic and climate implications of the options
proposed.
Background Papers
·
Car park policy 2022
·
Car park usage surveys 2023
