Issue - meetings

The purpose of the report by the Director of Regeneration is to recommend ways of improving the residents' parking scheme to; encourage  the use of cars with lower emissions, encourage car sharing, discourage students from bringing cars to the city, make it easier for residents living  near Residents Parking Zone boundary (RPZ) and to reduce displacement.

RECOMMENDED:

(1)  That the following variations to the Portsmouth City Council (Various Roads) Residents Parking Places) (No. 9) Consolidation Order 2016 are advertised and any objections considered at a future Traffic and Transport Decision meeting:

      (i)         The eligibility for permits is changed to exclude student halls of residents.

      (ii)        The procedure for issuing permits is changed to allow car sharing between people living in different zones by permitting the same vehicle to be issued with a permit for more than one zone.

(2)   That the following variations to the charge for the issue of Parking Permits be advertised under the statutory notice procedure:  

      (i)         The charges for permits are changed to allow households with one vehicle powered solely by electricity to obtain a permit free of charge and to reduce the charge for permits for those who have one vehicle which emits less than 100g of CO2 per Km for obtain permits to £15.

      (ii)        The cost of third permits to be reduced to £300.

A decision on this report was deferred so that the report could be reviewed and brought back to the next meeting on 8 August 2019.

Kevin McKee, Parking Manager, presented his report which sought to make improvements to the administration of Residents' Parking Zones (RPZs) and to tidy the anomaly regarding the treatment of university halls of residents (approximately 17 permits had been issued to registered students in halls). The other recommendations were to make changes to the way people sharing cars applied for permits and to reduce the cost of the third permit (due to reports of displacement parking). The report also addressed the issue of overlapping or "fuzzy" boundaries to help ease problems in areas of high demand.

A deputation was made by Councillor Terry Norton raising objections to a piecemeal approach to residents' parking zones and referring to the MD RPZ scheme.

Councillor Heaney commented on the MD report going to full Cabinet, which he had attended, and raised questions on the proposed changes to the permit allocation and the "fuzzy boundaries", for which the Parking Manager explained use of the bays near the edges of the areas to allow flexibility for the adjacent schemes.

Councillor Bosher raised several questions including the targeting of students halls of residence rather than the issue of students living in the community bringing cars; Pam Turton, Assistant Director Transport, responded that it was not proposed to limit first permits to certain sectors of the community.  The Parking Manager's proposals were coming to the Cabinet Member before a Traffic Regulation Order would be prepared for further consultation (including with the University of Portsmouth). Councillor Bosher was disappointed by the delay in bringing forward the resolution to the legal issue identified on student residency, which had been identified last year during the Traffic, Environment & Community Safety Scrutiny Panel's review on parking.  Councillor Bosher also raised concerns regarding the wording of the recommendations being open to interpretation.  The Parking Manager had sought legal advice on the recommendations and there would be further clarification through the Traffic Regulation Order consultation process.

Councillor Stagg wanted to ensure an open process so agreed that the report could be revisited at her next meeting to ensure clarity.

A decision on this report was deferred so that the report could be reviewed and brought back to the next meeting.