Agenda item

Cllr Shires reminded the Committee that last year the Council had increased the car parking charges quite substantially and she was mindful that the Committee would have been more comfortable with no increase to the standard town car park charge this year. Therefore, the proposed 3.8% increase would only affect the Coastal and Resort tariffs. The Chair asked why it stated no increase to standard car park fees within the Fees and Charges papers when it wasn’t mentioned within the Car Park Fees and Charges recommendation. Cllr Shires was happy that the recommendation within Option 1 be re-worded to reflect that the standard town car parks would not be included in the 3.8% increase.

Cllr Shires explained that officers had initially looked at reviewing charges for season tickets every 2 years, but the Committee had previously felt that it would be better if they were reviewed annually to make a smaller stepped increase.   The current view was that, to minimise costs to local residents, the second part of the stepped increase was no longer required, so instead suggested an inflationary increase in Option 6. 

Cllr Shires also confirmed, on the back of a query from Cllr Penfold, that the 7-day tickets were increasing by 3.8% across all car parks, as it was previously found that a reduced rate was available when purchasing a 7-day ticket inland. These tickets could still be used across all NNDC car parks.

Cllr Hankins believed residents who did not own a car were subsidising those who did through any proposed increase in Council Tax. He also asked what car parks across the district cost to maintain and which of those car park facilities were not recovering their costs. Cllr Shires signposted the Committee to Pg.39 of the Budget Monitoring report and the business cost it took to keep each car park running. She felt the benefit of parking fees was that they were not restricted as with licensing fees and the revenue generated helped support discretional services, for example, public toilets and leisure assets. The standard inland car parks were there to support the market towns but were never going to be huge generators of income. Cllr Shires was not aware of any car park making a significant loss but was happy to bring back to the Committee another car parking review. Cllr Penfold believed the Committee was satisfied with the review and it did not have the appetite to look at it again so soon. However, Cllr Cushing thought this would be helpful as the Council headed towards LGR and questions were asked about what parts of the estate would go to any new unitary authority.

It was felt by the Committee that if it was to support the local economy it was essential to maintain the same prices for standard inland car parks and was not a case of rounding up because it was too difficult but a decision to protect those market towns. Cllr Heinrich welcomed this decision, but he queried the need to charge 5p when many people paid by cash, and he felt that people who did pay this way, were unlikely to have that small change. Cllr Heinrich proposed rounding the charge in those instances up or down. Cllr Heinrich also believed that maintenance costs should be shared across all car parks but not as part of a formal recommendation.

The Committee were initially open to Cllr Heinrich’s proposal. When Cllr Shires calculated that rounding up 5p charges to 10p would result in an increase much closer to 5.8% the Committee were less comfortable to vote in support. The Chair felt that this would unfairly impact those who paid by card or via mobile app as they would suffer an increase by a further 2%. Equally, Cllr Rouse was concerned about the negative headlines the Council would receive if they agreed to increase by 5.8%. Cllr Shires confirmed that the parking machines do take 5p coins. Upon reflection of the Committee’s views, Cllr Heinrich withdrew his recommendation but wished it noted in any final recommendation that the Cabinet were mindful of those small change increases. The Chair and Cllr Bailey both proposed that 3.8% was a sufficient increase, when considering the cost of living, and the Committee agreed

Cllr Cushing felt that adding the monetary value as to what those recommendations equated to would be useful going forward. The DFR warned the Committee that would require an assumption as no guarantee that increasing by 3.8% would generate a certain amount of additional revenue and including that figure could raise expectations.

Cllrs Shires said she would welcome the support of the Committee in looking at what the estate would look like heading into LGR as the Council had a lot of other assets that would need to be protected for local people.

In response to a question from Cllr Housden on the forecast deficits for the three years beginning in 2026/27 and if any forward plan with inflation figures had been used in coming to those estimates, Cllr Shires explained that was what had been assumed back in February, when the Budget was set, based on what was known at that time and it was not possible to adjust those forecasts in year. Officers did not assume, in advance, an increase on car park charges as they could only forecast on what they knew to be certain. Cllr Shires reiterated that increasing car park fees in future years wouldn’t cover all those forecasted deficits, although it would help. 

When reflecting on a suggestion by Cllr Gray, who felt that adding a column to the report that showed an actual percentage increase might add some clarity when considering charges with the odd 5p, Cllr Shires said officers had calculated those percentages, and she would share them with the Committee, and when rounded up some were slightly higher than 3.8% whilst some calculated as lower than 2%. The Chair fed back that showing the financial gain from those increases would be useful. Cllr Shires explained a table showing this was in the report but was happy to link together, so it became clearer.

The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Cabinet:

• Option 1 overall car parking total increase in line with CPI inflation of 3.8% and apportioned so there is no increase to standard town car parks. Cabinet to be mindful of the inconvenience for cash users caused by using small change such as 5p coins.
• Option 6 increase season ticket fees by 3.8%.