Minutes:
At its meeting held on 15th April, 2015 Council considered a motion requesting a 6 month trial of 2 hour free parking in Council car parks in Llanelli Town Centre. Council resolved that the motion be supported and the proposal be referred to the Executive Board for consideration.
The Executive considered a report providing detailed information on the following:-
- the Authority’s Parking Policy;
- information and evidence on car parking performance in Llanelli;
- research undertaken on the impact of parking charges on town centres;
- implications that will arise if free car parking is introduced;
- car park budget decisions that are currently in abeyance whilst the motion is considered.
The report also detailed a number of options for consideration.
The provision of free car parking would reduce revenue for the Council resulting in a reduction in investment for other highway and transport related services, leading to further loss of services. Also, it may not have the desired outcome in terms of trade for the town, however, it was recognised that there was a need to respond to the concerns of the town centre traders and members.
Councillor Deryk Cundy asked the following question:-
“I think that the Task Force is a great idea and it is very important that we really do involve the traders. I’d like to see it as a cross party thing if possible. It is hugely important as obviously there are a lot of Llanelli members who would like to be involved in this. Measurement is the key and I am not convinced that we have all the measurements here. The point of the free parking is not going to go away until we get a proper measurement on this. Two hours in the afternoon, although that helps, I’m not totally sure if that is really in the spirit of the original proposal which was to have two hours in an earlier part of the day and I would like to see that. The whole point here is that we need to see measurements and that the traders are actually getting a benefit from this. Footfall alone does not actually show if the traders are getting a benefit. It’s important that we work with the traders on that. The question is can we have more positive action with the traders to actually really involve them a lot better?”
The Chair agreed that it was important to get the traders on board as part of the equation. The Task Force will have to make sure that trader involvement is there because footfall is one thing but getting people into their shops is their role in the equation. What we can do to increase and encourage footfall we will do but the traders run their own businesses and shops and that part is up to them. He added that it was disappointing that in the past a lot of shops have chosen to close on the night of the Christmas Lights switch on and this was one of the things which could be discussed by the Task Force. He stressed that it was important to get the equation right between what we can do and what the traders can actually get on board and do themselves.
The Executive Board Member for Technical Services explained that the reason the hours 3.00 p.m. – 5.00 p.m. were chosen was to encourage new footfall into the town centre e.g. families visiting town after school.
UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED
14.1 that the town centre be encouraged to maximise the take up of the free car parking days available to the town centre;
14.2 that the existing charges be retained but the introduction of evening charges and the 20p increase for the current year be postponed and introduced next year;
14.3 that a two hour period of free car parking be introduced between 3.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. each day for a period of one month in October. Such an initiative would enable a further analysis of demand to measure the impact of free parking;
14.4 to retain all current and planned charges but seek town centre trader support for the introduction of a scheme whereby traders are able to discount the cost of their goods/services where users have produced evidence of parking on the day of purchase;
14.5 to retain all charges but explore an option to introduce a pay on exit system at the multi storey car park in lieu of the pay and display/pay on foot system;
14.6 that charges be introduced at the Llanelli Leisure Centre car park to encourage non centre users to park at more appropriate locations and appropriate dispensations for leisure centre users be accommodated within the charging system;
14.6 that the Llanelli Task Force be reintroduced and chaired by the Leader of Council.