To receive any questions submitted by members of the public and any requests to address the Cabinet.
(a) Public Questions
To answer questions asked by members of the public after notice in accordance with the provisions contained within Part 4 of the Constitution (Council Rules, rule Q3 refers) on any matter in relation to which the Cabinet has powers or duties or which affects the District.
(b) Requests to Address the Cabinet
Any member of the public or a representative of another organisation may address the Cabinet on any agenda item (except those dealt with in private session as exempt or confidential business) due to be considered at the meeting, in accordance with the provisions contained within Article 7 of the Constitution (The Executive, paragraphs 27 & 28 refers).
Minutes:
In order to give the proposed question some context the Chairman allowed the public speaker to firstly make his statement to the meeting and then follow it up with his question.
Request to address the Cabinet
The Cabinet heard from Mr T Owen, Vice-Chairman of the Loughton Broadway Town Centre Partnership who made a statement on the proposed parking tariff review report on the agenda that night.
Mr Owen said the Loughton Broadway Town Centre Partnership consistently had parking as an agenda item at its meetings.
They had noted that the report included the intention to help local businesses and that car parks could also be treated individually (such as the one in Roydon).
The report also noted that there was a lack of parking provision in the Debden Broadway area. To address that there was the proposal to increase the Resident Parking Permit by £2 per annum and the acknowledgement that a review of the parking in the Broadway was carried out.
It was well known that parking has been a contentious issue in Debden for some time and they did not believe that the proposals improve the situation – especially the proposed reduction in free parking at a time when traders were experiencing the impact of three hours free parking in the Epping Forest Shopping Park.
The Broadway Traders and Loughton Broadway Town Centre Partnership believed that the report had missed the opportunity to make realistic but innovative and helpful proposals that if adopted would benefit the local community. They would like to suggest that there were simple measures that could make a difference to the traders, residents and customers, and ask that serious consideration be given to them:
• One-hour free parking in Vere Road and Burton Road and Burton Road South at all times;
• Re-designation of Burton Road as a Short Stay car park and Vere Road as a Long Stay car park to help manage the out of area commuter use; and
• One hour free on Saturday and £1 all day in both Burton Road, Vere Road and Burton Road South (they noted that there was a £1 all day charge as in Cottis Lane Epping which was a short stay car park) .
Public Questions
Mr Owen then asked the following question on behalf of the Loughton Broadway Town Centre Partnership on the Parking Tariff Review report:
“How does the EFDC, and in particular the Cabinet, think that by accepting the ‘Parking Tariff review of council car parks’ report, the lives of the residents and traders in The Broadway will be benefitted and enhanced, at a time when traders are experiencing the negative impact of the free parking in the Epping Forest Shopping Park and the use of the car park by commuters?”
The Portfolio Holder for Safer, Greener and Transport gave the following response:
“I would like to thank the Loughton Broadway Town Centre Partnership for responding to the consultation on the proposed changes to the parking tariff. I am aware that the Partnership has been liaising with the Portfolio Holder for Asset Management and Economic Development.
The proposed parking tariff review and the changes in the Broadway area is our latest effort to address the ever competing parking requirements of residents, shoppers, short and long stay visitors. We have used local knowledge and user surveys to inform our proposed amendments. We believe the proposed tariff structure strikes a good balance in providing short and long stay parking.
I would like to address the three specific points raised by the Partnership in response to the consultation on the report:
1) One hour free parking in Vere Road and Burton Road and Burton Road South at all times:
To operate a free period of parking we would have to change pay and display ticket machines to allow car park vehicle registration to be printed to tickets. This is something that the Council has always resisted as it is seen to be inconvenient to motorists. By retaining the 20 pence for 30 minutes, 90 pence for one hour and £1.80 for 2 hours tariff, which is low compared to the surrounding local authorities and London Underground, we are encouraging short stay visits.
The free 3 hours for the Retail Park was a commercial decision to attract new type of retail offering. The Broadway car parks have always been pay and display and offering a free period, of any duration, will not necessarily resolve the parking pressure.
2) Re-designation of Burton Road as a short stay and Vere Road as a long stay car park to help manage the out of area commuter use
We have no evidence to suggest that Burton Road car park is used by commuters on the London Underground. On the contrary we believe the users of this car park are predominantly local workers and all day visitors. This was the conclusion of our own parking survey carried out earlier in the year, a fact validated by the recent fire incident when the Burton Road Car Park was almost completely empty soon after the fire in the block of flats opposite the car park.
3) One hour free on Saturday and £1 all day in both Burton Road, Vere Road and Burton Road South (we note that there is a £1 all day as in Cottis Lane Epping which is a short stay car park)
We are not proposing to change the £1 all day in the Burton Road Car Park as this is long stay. Vere Road Car Park will remain unchanged, full short stay tariff will apply from Monday to Saturday just as it would in all other short stay car parks in the District. The rationale of offering full tariff in short stay instead of a £1 all day is to allow higher turnover of parking spaces and encourage short stay shoppers/visitors.
Council’s commitment to the Broadway area:
I would like to draw attention to the long standing commitment of this Council to the enhancement and improvement in the Loughton Broadway area.
The Council is funding the Loughton Broadway Parking Review scheme. First phase addressed road safety and congestion of the highest priority areas and was completed in 2017/18 financial year at a cost of £57,000. The second phase of this scheme covers most of the Debden area and is currently in design phase, public consultation on the proposed changes will commence in October, has so far incurred expenditure of £41,000. The implementation of this larger scheme will require significantly more expenditure and the Council is committed to delivering this scheme which will improve the road safety, parking congestion and provide safe parking for residents.
Another example of the Council’s commitment to Loughton Broadway is the creation of 93 new pay and display parking spaces and the commitment to build a further 44 new spaces once planning permission is obtained for demolition of garages in Vere Road Car Park.
Once all the works are completed there would be a total of 137 new paid for parking spaces in the Loughton Broadway area.”