40 PETITION FOR DEBATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE COUNCIL'S PETITION SCHEME PDF 477 KB
To report and debate the following Petition, containing at least 1000 valid signatures, in accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme:
Free Parking Hadleigh
We the undersigned petition the Council to Maintain the free parking in all Hadleigh car parks.
It is now more essential than ever for the vitality and future of Hadleigh High Street to enable local and visiting shoppers to park free of charge. A number of new outlets have only just opened and to impinge businesses sustainability by the introduction of parking charges would be completely retrograde. Any decisions of this nature should only take place after the fullest public consultation.
Minutes:
40.1 The Chair read the Petition as detailed in the Agenda.
40.2 The Monitoring Officer outlined the process to be followed for the debate, detailed under Part B of Section 3.1 of the Petitions Scheme contained in the Constitution.
40.3 The Monitoring Officer advised Members that questions had been received from Hadleigh Town Council and a member of the public regarding the subject matter of the petition and the Chairman had agreed to vary the order of business on the Agenda to take these questions at the same time as the petition.
40.4 The Monitoring Officer also advised that as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had recently considered the proposed Parking Policy report, the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be invited to present any comments from the Committee which were relevant to the debate.
40.5 The Chair invited the petition organiser, Mr Laing, to present the petition.
Mr Laing made the following presentation:
Whilst other Councils across the Country are introducing periods of free parking to try and encourage footfall in the high street, this Cabinet, having established that the average parking time is 64 minutes, has cynically sought to charge after only 30 minutes. Babergh’s own Q and A page has a link to the Association of Town and City Management, to a report they clearly attach some weight to. From that report Rugby Council are working with retailers to shape parking. The retailers can issue permits to customers for 4 hours free parking. Another example, not from the report, Tees Valley has just these months introduced free parking for a minimum stay of two hours, up to a maximum of three hours. This policy to be in place for two years.
Tees Valley’s Mayor has said that everyone across our region deserves a vibrant and thriving high street, that can still flourish in an age of online shopping. They are the life blood of our area and introducing free parking can help make them an even more dynamic and vibrate place to live and do business.
From the statutory guidance for Local Authorities on Enforcing Parking restrictions, the Secretary of State recommends that enforcement authorities, should consult locally on their parking policies when they appraise them, they should seek the views of people and businesses with a range of different parking needs, including the views of the police. The appraisal should take account of the impact on the local economy and the viability of local shops and high streets. To my knowledge none of this has happened.
The British Retail Consortium has warned of conditions getting worse for non-essential shops and the high street generally. Retail figures for 2020 are the worst on record except for food and online shopping. The Centre for Retail research has said that 2020 was the worst for high street job losses in 25 years.
This proposal in its present form fails. It fails for not engaging with town and parish councils. It fails for not engaging with local businesses ... view the full minutes text for item 40