Agenda and minutes

To receive any declarations of interest by members in items on the agenda. For any advice on declarations of interest, please contact the Monitoring Officer.

There were no declarations of interest made within the provisions of the Code of Conduct for Members.

Members of the Council should indicate which item(s) they wish to speak on and the nature of their concern/question/request for clarification (in accordance with Council Meeting Procedure Rule 18).

Councillor Chapelard had registered his wish to address the Board on the car parking review item (minute PT28/16 below), within the provisions of Council Meetings Procedure Rule 18.

The Chairman will move that the minutes of the previous meeting, dated 22 August 2016, be signed as a correct record. The only issue relating to the minutes that can be discussed is their accuracy.

In accordance with Council Meetings Procedure Rule 16.1, the Chairman will sign the minutes of today’s proceedings at the next scheduled meeting.

The minutes of the Board meeting dated 22 August 2016 were submitted.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Board meeting dated 22 August 2016 be agreed.

This report is to follow

Further to minute PT22/16, Paul Taylor, the Director of Change and Communities, introduced the revised report on car parking charges, following the deferment of this issue at the meeting held on 22 August. Mr Taylor said that the latest report attempted to address the four main concerns expressed by the Board members, namely: the impact of charges on visitor numbers to the town; how will any extra revenue be spent; how do the proposals help to reduce congestion in the town centre; and are the proposals solely about generating income. The key responses to these four issues had been set out in Appendix E to the report.

Mr Taylor stressed that the revised report contained a substantial amount of data requested by members, which sought to provide the evidence base to support the proposals.

Rosemarie Bennett, the Parking Manager, summarised how the main areas of change recommended would help to deliver the key elements of the Parking Strategy. These included the funding of specific projects in the town centre car parks and also address other areas of public concern, covering: footway parking; residential permit zone restructures; and new restrictions.

Mrs Bennett drew attention to a lesser tariff band increase than originally proposed for those wishing to park for up to one hour, as highlighted in table 1 of the report. She also focused attention on a number of amendments to the published report, which were tabled in a summary sheet. She added that it was being proposed that town centre parking permit holders should be offered free overnight parking in Meadow Road, Crescent Road and Great Hall car parks, if they were unable to find a space within their respective zones.

Councillor Chapelard was invited to address the Board as a visiting member. He said that the Liberal Democrat group welcomed the improved report, adding that there remained some issues of concern as follows:

(i)     He felt that further information should be added under table 1 of the report, to show details of the relevant costs and spending. He also believed that the benefits proposed for parking permit holders should be spelt out in more detail. He welcomed the proposal that permit holders be provided with free overnight parking in the multi-storey car parks, if there were no available spaces in their respective zones. He wondered whether this could be extended to Beech Street and Camden Road car parks.

(ii)    Councillor Chapelard said that, when the permit price had been increased to £40, permit-holders had been promised improved facilities; he added that, from speaking to permit-holders, it was felt that no such improvements had yet been made.

(iii)   Councillor Chapelard wished to guard against a negative impact that an increase in charges might have on small local businesses. For instance, he felt that the town currently had a thriving High Street, which should be protected, adding that the anticipated fallout on commerce from the EU Referendum outcome had yet to occur.

(iv)   Councillor Chapelard suggested that the charging structure of  ...  view the full minutes text for item PT28/16

The Democratic Services Officer will advise if there have been any urgent items of business which have arisen for the Board’s consideration since publication of the agenda.

The Democratic Services Officer advised that there were no additional items for the Board’s consideration which had arisen since the publication of the agenda.

The date of the next meeting is Monday 3 October 2016, at 6.30pm in Committee Room A, at the Town Hall, Tunbridge Wells.

The following item is scheduled on the Forward Plan (which is subject to change) to be discussed:

·         Overview and Scrutiny Infrastructure Provision Task and Finish Group

It was noted that the next meeting of the Board was scheduled to take place on Monday 3 October, when the following item would be discussed (based on the Forward Plan):

·         Overview and Scrutiny infrastructure provision task and finish group