A Different Parking Strategy: Free Permits, Proper Consultation and Helping Local Businesses

Shepway Council are in the process of consulting on the first phase of a parking strategy, that will see a controlled parking zone introduced across the centre of Folkestone before the end on 2008.

At April's Shepway Council meeting, I proposed a scheme where the first permit for every household would be free. Although the Conservatives voted that proposal down, I hope that they will be prepared to listen to proposals to make the scheme better.

Consultation

The current consultation is almost entirely focused on the residents of the first area in which the parking strategy to be implemented - Central Folkestone. It's been made explicit (by Rory Love) that views of people from outside that area will have less weight - despite the fact that the system as implemented there will almost certainly set the model for the roll-out of the Parking Strategy across the rest of the district, and will affect those who visit the area as well - in some instances more than those that live there.

There should be a new cross-area consultation on the general principles of the Parking Strategy, with a consultation on a range of charging rates and strategies, before implementing anywhere in the area. Otherwise, the scheme as imposed in Central Folkestone will end up being rolled out to other areas (as it would be too difficult to have massively different schemes / charging rates etc in different areas) without proper consultation.

Residents

There is a clear feeling developing that the parking strategy is simply about charging residents for a facility they currently have. The proposal to charge a flat £25 per permit will do nothing to mitigate that feeling.

An alternative would be to offer a FREE permit to every household, and then only charge for subsequent permits for each household. This may (depending on the cost of the subsequent permits and the income from the sale of parking vouchers / visitor permits) decrease the total overall income, but as even an estimate of that income has yet to be published, it's hard to value that decrease, and with the introduction of charging, its still certain to be cash generative (as required in the published parking strategy) but without every household that wishes to park on the road near their house being forced to pay.

The free first permit is not unique:

• Reading Borough Council give the first permit per household free (www.berkshiremuseums.org.uk/transportandstreets/General.asp?id=SX9452-A77FAF08)
• Nottingham City up to two permits per household free (www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/sitemap/transport_and_streets/parking/controlled_parking_zones.htm) - they even offer free business permits!
• is the model being consulted on by Portsmouth City Council for their new parking scheme

Businesses / Hotels

The charging period of 9.30 - 5.30 Monday to Friday is longer than it needs to be to achieve the aim of reducing commuter and long-term parking. A period of (say) 11.00 - 3.00 would also achieve the aims, but have significantly less impact of businesses, and especially visitors to local hotels and B&B's who could then park for an overnight stay without requiring a ticket.

We are keen to promote Folkestone (and the district) as a tourist destination - putting in place a scheme which requires someone staying in a B&B to "feed a meter" at 9.30am hardly seems visitor focused...

There should also be a clear statement that hours and days of operation WILL NOT be increased. We have recently seen the extension of charging hours in car parks to increase revenues, and there should be written assurances that the scheme will not be extended until later at night or into the weekends.

There should also be a clear statement of the expenditure priorities for any income from the scheme. Apparently income generated has to be spent on parking / transport schemes (otherwise it gets clawed back by Kent Highways). The schemes that will benefit from the income should be published, so that local residents can see what benefits we will see locally from charging for on-street parking.

Business permits that cover the 4 zones of the first phase will cost £375 on the current proposals. By the time the number of zones is increased from 4 as the strategy is rolled out, the cost of a pass that covers central, west and east Folkestone as well as Sandgate, Hythe, Elham Valley and Romney Marsh could be phenomenal - well into the thousands. There needs to be either a lower price, or a commitment that an "all zone" pass will not rise in price as new zones are put in place.