Agenda item

Councillor Cornwell presented his motion regarding civil parking enforcement and stated that:

“Whilst canvassing in the recent elections I was approached by a number of residents concerned and annoyed about such issues as motorists ignoring parking restrictions, blocking footpaths by inconsiderate parking, parking dangerously near school entrances, blocking private entrances and parking very close to road junctions. Everyone understands that our police service has other more important priorities to attend to and this is why all our Norfolk neighbouring authorities and some in other neighbouring councils have introduced Civil Parking Enforcement, indeed it is often enforced successfully in conjunction with other street based services.

The effect of what I referred to in my election manifesto as “wild west parking in Fenland” affects almost every Fenland resident through individual safety, public safety, business continuity and sustainability, the environment and quality of life.

Madam Chairman, I strongly believe that Fenland must deliver services that its public wants and which improve their quality of life and I therefore propose that this Council shows its support for the exploration of  the powers contained  in Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 and associated Acts and Regulations regarding Civil Parking Enforcement throughout the district.”

Councillor Sutton seconded the motion and Councillor Mrs Mayor opened up the motion for debate.

Councillor Mrs French proposed an amendment to the motion (which had been tabled for members prior to the meeting) and stated:

“Many Fenland residents are justifiably concerned and annoyed about such issues as motorists ignoring parking restrictions, blocking footpaths by inconsiderate parking, parking dangerously near school entrances, blocking private entrances and parking very close to road junctions.

Fenland District Council must deliver services that its public wants and which improve their quality of life. This Council therefore welcomes the fact that several Cabinet members met with council officers last month to begin the process in Fenland of exploring the powers contained in Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 and associated Acts and Regulations regarding Civil Parking Enforcement throughout the District, and that officers on July 4th produced a draft briefing note relating to coordination of both off-street and on-street parking provision in Fenland, which includes the potential adoption in Fenland of Civil Parking Enforcement. This Council also notes with approval that the draft briefing note explicitly excludes the introduction by Fenland District Council of paid car parking in the district’s car parks”.

Councillor Topgood seconded the amendment to the original motion and Councillor Mrs Mayor opened up the motion for debate.

·       Councillor Tierney stated his support for the amendment, saying it is one of the issues that all members know is absolutely vital to the people of Fenland as they raise it all the time. It has been way too long where councillors have done nothing and now is the time to do something about it. Also, he was pleased to see the specific exclusion of pay parking added to the amended motion.

·       Councillor Booth added that the amended motion was not much different to the original motion other than the main point of pay parking. He said that we need to be careful of making too many decisions before a review of council services under the council management programme. Members need to appreciate that the government grant we get, calculates that we should be getting an income from pay parking. We are only one of a few authorities who provide free parking to our credit but we must keep our options open for the future. He is happy to support the amendment as the main issue is civil parking enforcement but we need to make sure we look at this in the villages and not just the towns, particularly where it affects schools.

·       Councillor Benney advised that the Conservative Group would not bring in pay parking in the next four years of their term unless it was a central government decision.

·       Councillor Yeulett said poor parking is endemic in the district and will fully support the motion.

·       Councillor Meekins added his support for the amendment. He went out with the police last week around Wisbech and the standard of parking was poor. Currently PCSOs can issue enforcement tickets and, although they do so much more, we need people who, as well as issuing tickets, provide a presence, act as a deterrent against poor parking and also help with traffic flow.

·       Councillor Tanfield added she has been an advocate for sorting out parking since she was a Cabinet member. If the system works properly, fewer tickets will be issued leading to less money coming in; however someone still needs to pay the parking enforcers. She is surprised therefore that we are not looking at pay parking at all; we have no idea what the people in Fenland want or do not want because we have not asked the question. She stated that she had no problem supporting the amendment apart from the fact that to take away any option is to take away any financial value. We cannot make rules and then not have the substantial financial backing behind those rules.

·       Councillor Hoy stated that all members agree that nobody likes inconsiderate parking; however there is disagreement over the pay parking issue and she is pleased that the Conservative Group will not be bringing in pay parking charges over the next four years.  She thanked Councillor Tanfield for making her group’s position clear on that issue.

·       Councillor Count stated that the subject of pay parking has been in the media many times over the years and he is pleased that it has been ruled out at this stage. He added that he knows what his residents want because he is in regular contact with them and they tell him they are concerned about parking and they will say no to pay parking. 

·       Councillor Maul added that he favours the amendment; there is an issue with parking across the whole of Fenland. In response to Councillor Hoy’s statement, he would like to affirm that he is against pay parking.

Councillor Mrs Mayor invited Councillor Cornwell to give his right to reply.

Councillor Cornwell said that there was very little difference between the motion and the amendment. However the subject has now been brought into the open for members to discuss their views and the motion has achieved that. His version clearly says that the Council should show support for the “exploration of the powers” and that is precisely what is going on. The argument only comes down to pay parking; his motion makes no reference to it but the amendment does.

A recorded vote was taken on the amendment to the motion, which was unanimously agreed.

Councillor Mrs Mayor opened the substantive motion for further debate.

·       Councillor Count said that Councillor Cornwell in his summing up said the only difference between his motion and the amended motion was that we were against paid parking. He asked if Councillor Cornwell would now like to put forward a second amendment where he puts paid parking on the table.

·       Councillor Tierney referred to Councillor Tanfield’s earlier statement where she said she was surprised we were putting something onto the amendment and did not think we should rule anything out. He is happy that pay parking has been ruled out because the public want to know what we think, and it is clear what we think. If we are sure something is wrong, which in the case of pay parking we are, we should say so and the public will thank us for it. The Conservative Group are absolutely sure we will not be introducing pay charging in the next four years.

·       Councillor Booth pointed out that the Councillor Cornwell did suggest civic parking enforcement was often enforced with other street based services and this was removed from the amended motion but he would like that this still be considered as part of the proposals going forward. It is probably cheaper to deliver a service if combined with other activities.

·       Councillor Mrs French pointed out that we are one of 21 councils throughout the country who do not enforce parking. We are keen to look at the whole issue of parking, including pavement parking and blue badge abuse.

·       Councillor Sutton wanted to state that he has never supported pay parking but perhaps it is something that should be looked at and not ruled out. Our car parks are full but the shops are empty, therefore something is wrong. Are people coming from further afield to use our free car parks in Whittlesey but going shopping in Peterborough for example?

·       Councillor Hay pointed out that she understands we can introduce parking restrictions and time limits without introducing charges, and presumably that will form something that we are looking at as a council.

·       Councillor Boden agreed with Councillor Sutton, our car parks are being utilised by individuals who are not the shoppers who need the spaces to get access to the shops. We do need to differentiate in the car parks, those which should be for short term parking for shops and other local services, and those for workers who could perhaps park a little further away.

·       Councillor Cornwell stated that March, as the busiest town in Fenland, already has time-limited parking and that is in the car parks that are operated by supermarkets, which are controlled and it does not cause a problem. Therefore he assumes it is one of the options that will be taken into account, although he stated again that pay parking was not part of his original motion.

Councillor Mrs Mayor asked for a vote to be taken on the substantive motion. 

The motion was passed unanimously.