Meeting documents

For Members to consider the attached report.

Contact officer: Teresa Lane 01296 585006

The council needed to review parking strategies for its town centres to take account of the planned growth within Aylesbury Vale, the challenges facing town centres and emerging new technologies. Investigations into carrying out parking studies began in 2017 in Aylesbury, Buckingham, Winslow and Wendover, and the outcomes would inform AVDC’s investment management decisions relating to parking. The outcomes would also provide supporting information for the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan.

The first study had been completed for Aylesbury. The brief for the work had been developed in consultation with Buckinghamshire County Council and Aylesbury Town Council to ensure all town centre related parking issues were within the scope. The study’s objective was to investigate parking provision in the town centre and the surrounding area, and how to work with key stakeholders to deliver an integrated solution. Importantly, the focus was on parking in Aylesbury not just car parks that AVDC owned. The scope of the work included:

·         understanding the current service and operational arrangements 

·         reviewing and appraising current parking provision, infrastructure and capacity identifying and evaluating constraints and issues

·         providing advice on potential solutions to address the constraints and issues

·         analysing future demand

·         recommend the optimum parking provision for the town between 2018 –2033 taking into account emerging trends and technologies

ARUPS had been selected to deliver the Aylesbury brief following a robust procurement process. To produce the draft strategy, ARUPS had reviewed:

·         related national, regional and local policy and guidance e.g. the National Planning Policy Framework, The Aylesbury Transport Plan, the draft Vale of Aylesbury Plan, the BTVLEP Strategic Economic Plan and the Aylesbury Town Centre Plan

·         on-site visits

·         best practice and emerging trends and technologies

·         condition surveys

·         customer feedback

·         available data on usage

Based on these, six objectives were identified to form the strategy framework which were as follows:

1.    Responsive to the needs of different groups and customers

2.    Positively contributes to the local economy and regeneration

3.    Commercially sustainable & efficient parking management model

4.    Enhances the local environment

5.    Integrates effectively with wider policy and plans

6.    Resilience and anticipation of future change

The report contained a summary of recommendations that would be used to develop a delivery plan for the strategy. Recommendations were directly linked to the objectives and priorities in the strategy to ensure a clear link between activities and desired outcomes for Aylesbury. The recommendations had been categorised into two phases with phase one representing those which AVDC would like to deliver first. They were split into three themes: Strategic Management, Operational Management, and Initiatives and Innovation. The Committee were asked to consider the recommendations and also suggest which Phase recommendations SM11 – SM16 should fall into.

Members sought further information from officers and the Cabinet Member and were advised that:-

      i.        Security concerns in car parks, such as lighting and access, were understandable and signage was available showing emergency contact details.

     ii.        At present, around six or seven coaches arrived for pantomime performance at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre. A park and ride offer for the theatre would not be an attractive enough offer at present. Consideration of using The Gateway car park could be used to provide a park and ride site but the extra costs for security in keeping the car park open out of office hours would need to be covered.

    iii.        There was merit in investigating the possible of offering park and ride for one off major events such as the Christmas Light Switch-on. 

   iv.        Space in the town centre for coach parks would be too costly, however the current collection and drop-off arrangement was effective

    v.        Offering a variety of car park payment methods was important so that customers could select a choice that suited their preference

   vi.        Discounted parking or free parking for electric vehicles could be considered under an innovation scheme

  vii.        Encouraging use of bicycles through accessible bicycle parking would be considered as long as these were safe and did not affect the aesthetic of the town centre

 viii.        Friarscroft car park was underutilised by commuters due to its 8.30pm closure. This closure time was due to anti-social behaviour. The possibility of adding in security measures to deal with this was recommended in the report.

   ix.         The Waterside Festival had helped to promote the canalside area and show how accessible the theatre was to Waterside car park.

    x.        Town centre flat developments did not always offer car parking as research by developers had shown this was not always necessary.

The Committee were supportive of the recommendations in the report, notably the review of car park names to be more logical for customers and the estimated £400k investment to upgrade payment equipment and options. Members felt that a stakeholder survey should be carried out in Phase 2 as the results would be more meaningful after improvements were carried out. This would have an impact on the proposed metrics in the report. Recommendations SM15 and SM16 were linked and Members agreed that these should be carried out in Phase 2.

RESOLVED –

That the Committee recommends SM12 – SM14 are delivered in Phase 1 and SM11, SM15 and SM16 are delivered in Phase 2.

Note:

Councillor Whyte declared a personal interest in the above item as one of the Council’s representatives on the AVE Board.