Report recommends car parking charges in 41 out of 46 of council pay and display car parks stay at the same tariff for the eighth consecutive year

A report which outlines proposals to simplify car parking tariffs and parking permits to make the system fairer across the East Devon district goes before the council's Cabinet who meet on Wednesday September 5. A series of recommendations in the report follows a review of both the car parking charges in some of the council's pay and display car parks and the types of parking permits that the council offers.

Earlier this year the council put forward proposals around parking in the district and invited the local community to comment on the changes through an eight-week public consultation exercise. The council received 869 completed questionnaires and 91% of those who responded supported the proposal to hold the basic tariff at £1 an hour in most of our pay and display car parks.

The report to be discussed by the Cabinet members, proposes to base the car parking offer on just three basic charging schemes:

•         Coastal long stay     (£1 per hour, £6 maximum for up to 24 hours)•         Inland long stay       (£1 per hour, £3 maximum for up to 24 hours)•         Short stay               (£1 per hour, £3 maximum for up to 4 hours)

There is also a proposal to introduce one simple car parking permit that will potentially give many residents access to a permit that meets their needs at a lower cost than it was previously.

No changes are being proposed to the popular 2, 3, 4 and 7-day explorer tickets which offer great value for money. For example, the seven day ticket provides up to seven days parking (worth £42) for just £25.

Car parking charges in 41 out of 46 of its pay and display car parks are being recommended to stay at the same tariff for the eighth consecutive year.

Cllr Geoff Pook, East Devon District Council's portfolio holder for Asset Management,  said that the report would be discussed in detail at the meeting and would take into account the responses from the public consultation.

Cllr Pook said:

The council has listened carefully to what was said during the public consultation and the Cabinet report recommendations reflect the view of the respondents

The report explains the proposals to simplify our car parking offer, making both car parking tariffs and car parking permits fairer throughout the district whilst continuing to recognise the different needs and demands of residents and visitors.

The report recommends to:

1.  Add Underhill car park in Lympstone to the group of car parks charging our coastal long stay tariff (£1 per hour, maximum charge of £6 for up to 24 hours). 2. Add Canaan Way car park, Ottery St Mary,  Coombe Lane car park, Axminster, Church Street car park in Sidford and Dolphin Street car park in Colyton to the group of car parks charging our inland long stay tariff (£1 per hour, maximum charge of £3 for up to 24 hours). 3. Offer up to 15 car parking spaces for rent as reserved car parking spaces for £300 per space per year in Church Street car park in Sidford.
2.  Designate up to an additional eight car parking spaces in Temple Street car park in Sidmouth for reserved car parking and revise the rental charges for reserved spaces up to £300 per space per year. 5. Discontinue All-East Devon, Economy, Town/Area and Resident car parking permits and replace them with modular car parking permits valid for £100 per year for any single location plus additional locations at £20 per location per year, capped at £200 per year for an "all car parks" permit. 6. Offer a two-year introductory discount for £100 single location permits purchased by customers who currently have a valid resident permit for Colyton, Lympstone or Exmouth.  The discount will be 50% in 2019 and 25% in 2020 reverting to full price for permits purchased from 2021. 7. Introduce All-East Devon business permits for £500 per year. 8. Delegate to the Chief Executive and Asset Management Portfolio Holder the authority to enter into an agreement with LED to offer such subsidies and parking concessions that are found to be reasonably necessary to support the ongoing use of Exmouth Pavilion as an entertainment and community facility.  9. Introduce a pay and display parking management regime in Phear Park in Exmouth with a tariff of 50p per hour and £2 all day.