Issue - meetings

To consider the head of development and corporate landlord’s report. 

Cabinet considered the report of the head of development and corporate landlord.  This set out how officers had undertaken the annual review of car park fees.  Cabinet was asked to set fees for the 2024/25 financial year, commencing on 1 April 2024. 

The report set out the projected costs over the next four years.  Cabinet noted that the council’s car parking function should be self-financing, with the aim for income to meet costs.  Any surplus could be spent on car park resurfacing, the provision and maintenance of toilets in the car parks, and related infrastructure, such as signage and cycle racks. 

Cabinet considered the following options:

·       Option A – no change to the current parking fees;

·       Option B - remove the one-hour free parking and charge a nominal amount of 50 pence;

·       Option C – extend Sunday parking charges to all car parks;

·       Option D – introduce a differential pricing structure using a higher tier of charging for town centre car parks and a lower tier of charging for car parks on the edge of town (maintaining one-hour free parking);

·       Option E – charging for parking in the evenings;

·       Option F – half price parking permits for zero emission vehicles;

·       Option G – increase the cost of parking permits by 10 per cent (tabled at the meeting was a paper setting out the increase in the proposed permit fees);

·       Option H – increase all parking fees by 10 per cent;

·       Option I – increase overnight parking for campervans to £10 per overnight stay. 

The Cabinet member for the environment suggested that Cabinet should consider adopting options that only required a notice of variation, rather than a full consultation on a new car park order. 

Cabinet discussed the options, preferring to increase some fees to allow the council to cover expected increases in the cost of running the car parks.  This removed option A.  Members recognised that as the current contract with the car parks management contractor expired in 2025, it was difficult to estimate longer term costs accurately. 

Members rejected options A, B, C, E, F, and H at this stage.  Members believed that major changes should be avoided at the current time; the council could review the service when the current contract expired. 

It was proposed and seconded that by adopting options D, G and I, this would help cover the projected service costs.  Officers were asked to ensure that these changes could be legally and operationally implemented in the most efficient manner by using a notice of variation, rather than consulting on a new car park order, which could not be implemented by 1 April 2024.  Members proposed a new, simplified parking fee structure for town centre car parks in Abingdon, Faringdon and Wantage, with free parking up to one-hour, £2 for two hours, and an additional £1 per hour thereafter, with a ceiling on ‘over six hours’.  Both Southampton Street and Gloucester Street car parks in Faringdon should be classified as town centre car  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51