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Meeting: |
Decision Session |
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Meeting date: |
21/05/2024 |
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Report of: |
Annemarie Howarth |
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Portfolio of: |
Executive Member for Economy and Transport |
Decision Report:
Consideration of results received from the consultation to extend
R23 Residents Parking Zone to include Government House Road and a
decision to be made on placing limited waiting restrictions on
Water End slip road.
Subject of
Report
1. To report the results of the informal consultation feedback received from residents in response to a proposal to extend Resident Parking (ResPark) zone R23 (Westminster Road) to include properties on Government House Road, and determine what action is appropriate following the results.
2. To consider implementing limited waiting restrictions on Water End slip road, to limit car parking on the slip road to a maximum of 2 hours, to restrict long term parking and better support recreational users of the river area.
Pros and Cons
3. Consultations relating to the implementation of new or extended residents parking zones are usually brought forward at the request of residents. In the case of Government House Road, the majority of residents on the street submitted a petition to the Council in September 2020 to ask for their street to be consulted for implementing resident priority parking restrictions.
4. As the initial, informal consultation was taking place with the residents of the street, a representation was made to the Council about the use of the parking area on the slip road, where it appeared that commuters were parking for the whole day, restricting access to the riverside for recreational users. As these areas are very close to each other and restricting parking in one area would affect the other, an additional informal consultation was carried out to ask residents for their views on proposals to restrict parking in both areas.
5. The recommendation is to progress to the next stage of consultation for both areas. If this is approved, it would enable the statutory consultation process for:
· the extension of R23 to include Government House Road; and
· a 2-hour parking limit on the slip road.
6. Progressing the recommended extension of R23, to include Government House Road, to legal advertisement would allow further consideration of the views of residents (in support and in objection). If the proposal is advertised, residents and non-residents alike would have the opportunity to provide written representations for or against the proposal which would be presented to the Executive Member for Transport at a decision on whether the extension of the zone should go ahead.
7. Should the scheme not be progressed to legal advertisement this would go against the majority views of the residents on Government House Road and would not give the opportunity to gather further representations from the wider community.
8. Additionally, should the proposed 2-hour parking restriction on Water End slip road be progressed to advertisement this would also give local residents and the wider community the opportunity to provide written representations.
9. Removing all day commuter parking will have an advantage for the community wishing to utilise the area along the river for short term recreational use. It would also comply with CYC’s Local Transport Plan’s objectives as described below.
10. The two areas and proposed restrictions need to be considered together as the introduction of a time limit for parking on the Water End slip road without introducing parking restrictions on Government House Road would be likely to result in the displacement of the commuter parking currently taking place on the slip road to on-street parking on Government House Road.
Policy Basis for Decision
11. To progress to the statutory consultation stage to consider implementing parking management measures in line with the council’s objectives as stated in the Local Transport Plan and the majority preferences of residents from the consulted street.
12. Restricting parking on the slip road would comply with the Local Transport Plan (LTP) objective of “the transfer of inward commuting and visitor trips to the Park & Ride service, combined with restricting the availability of city centre parking, will remain a key strategy for reducing trips in the urban area”. As stated above, the two areas need to be considered together due to the risk of displaced parking if the slip road restrictions were to be implemented without restrictions on Government House Road.
Recommendation and Reasons
13. It is recommended that approval be given to advertise an amendment to the York Parking, Stopping and Waiting Traffic Regulation Order to:
· Restrict the maximum duration of parking on the Water End slip road to 2 hours; and
· Introduce Residents’ Priority Parking for Government House Road as an extension of the existing R23 scheme. A plan showing the proposed extended scheme is provided as Annex C.
14. The recommended option acknowledges the LTP objective to transfer commuting and visitor trips to the Park & Ride services and the views of the majority of residents on Government House Road.
15. It also provides an opportunity for further representations to be considered once the proposed modifications to the Order are advertised.
16. The views gathered through the statutory consultation period will inform the decision to be made on whether to implement the recommended options or review the approach.
17. If parking restrictions are implemented on Water End slip road, this would be likely to have an impact on on-street parking on Government House Road which is currently largely unrestricted.
Background
18. A petition was received from a substantial proportion of residents on Government House Road in September 2020 requesting that the council consider implementing residents only parking restrictions on the street. As such the area was included within the current waiting list for resident parking consultations.
19. Once the area reached consultation stage, we collated and posted the relevant consultation documentation (informal consultation) to all properties included within the proposed extended area on 11th July 2023 requesting that residents return their questionnaires, by email wherever possible or to the Freepost address provided, by Friday 4th August 2023. The plan of the extended consultation area outlining which properties received the documentation is included as Annex C outlined in red.
20. During the consultation, separate communication was received requesting limited waiting restrictions to be implement on the Water End slip road due to the long-term commuter parking taking place restricting the area available for short term recreational use visitors.
21. If any changes to the slip road are recommended this would then have an impact on residents of Government House Road and if restrictions were implemented on Government House Road, this would potentially have an impact on the slip road.
22. As such, a further update letter was sent to residents on 21st November 2023 (Annex E) to advise of the request and provide further opportunity for comments to be received to ensure that, due to the close proximity and impact each one would have on the other, both locations could be reviewed together.
Consultation Analysis
23. The consultation documentation is included within this report as:
· Annex A: Consultation letter sent to residents of Government House Road.
· Annex B: Questionnaire to be returned with preferred options.
· Annex C: Plan of the consultation area and proposed extended R23 boundary.
· Annex D: How a Resident Parking Scheme Works using entry/exit regulations, the current cost of permits.
· Annex E: Additional update letter sent to residents relating to the slip road request.
24. There are nine properties located on Government House Road of which all provided a response. During the consultation period on proposed residents parking restrictions, we received eight responses in favour of a full time 24hour restriction and one against any resident parking restrictions for Government House Road.
25. One written representation was received against the proposed resident parking scheme, which is included in full within Annex G. This representation also relates to the adoption of Government House Road and the vehicle rights which exist. These matters have previously been addressed by CYC and are not relevant to this decision. Comments were also included relating to the existing parking taking place on Government House Road, with the representation expressing the view that there are no parking issues on the street.
26. Due to the additional request for restrictions to be implemented on Water End slip road and the objection comments received, a Parking Survey was undertaken in September 2023. The data was collated between 7.00am and 7.00pm from Wednesday 27th September to Sunday 1st October 2023. This was to ensure that parking activities were recorded for both mid-week and weekends.
27. The data collated confirmed that long term parking was taking place mainly on weekdays on both the slip road and Government House Road. The timings suggest that this would be regular commuter parking taking between 4 and 6 spaces of the current unrestricted area on the slip road on the days the data was collated.
28. There is currently unrestricted highway parking space for approximately 6 vehicles on the slip road. This all-day parking on weekdays significantly reduces parking capacity available on the slip road for recreational users, which in turn increases the non-resident parking taking place on Government House Road. Details of the data collated can be viewed within Annex I.
29. If approval to proceed to advertisement is granted, in line with the recommended option, further consultation will be carried out in accordance with the required legal process. Notices will be placed on street, in The Press and delivered to properties in the affected area. An update letter will be sent to all consulted properties advising of the outcome and next stages once established, it will also give details on how to provide further representations for consideration.
Details would also be delivered to the surrounding area due to the additional restrictions proposed for Water End slip road to enable representations to be received from the nearby properties which are not included within the proposed extended residents parking area.
Options Analysis and Evidential Basis
Option 1 (Recommended Option) (Annex C)
30. Advertise an amendment to the Traffic Regulation Order to introduce new Residents’ Priority Parking restrictions for Government House Road, to operate 24hours Monday to Sunday, to be an extension of R23. In addition, it is recommended to introduce limited waiting parking restrictions on Water End slip road to restrict parking to a maximum of 2 hours, no return within 1 hour, 24 hours a day Monday to Sunday, as outlined on the plan included as Annex F.
31. This is the recommended option as it supports the Council’s LTP objective to transfer commuting and visitor trips to the Park & Ride services, support residents’ access needs to recreational areas on the riverside, addresses the parking displacement issues which would arise if restrictions were only implemented in one area, and acknowledges the views of the majority of residents on Government House Road.
Option 2:
32. No further action to be taken and the area is removed from the residents parking waiting list. Commuter parking on the slip road would continue to take place.
33. This is not the recommended option because it does not address the issues of commuter parking (in line with LTP objectives) and access to the riverside for recreational purposes. It would also go against the clearly expressed preference of the majority of residents on Government House Road.
Organisational Impact and Implications
34. This report has the following implications:
35. Financial; Funds allocated within the core transport budget will be used to progress the proposed residents parking scheme to legal advertisement. Should the scheme then be implemented the ongoing enforcement and administrative management of the additional residents parking provision will need to be resourced from the department’s budget, funded through income generated by the new restrictions.
36. Human Resources (HR); If implemented after advertisement, enforcement will fall to the Civil Enforcement Officers adding a relatively small area to an existing Resident Parking area. New zones/areas also impact on the Business Support Administrative services as well as Parking Services. Provision will need to be made from the income generated from new schemes to increase resources in these areas as well as within the Civil Enforcement Team as and when required. As the proposed changes are for relatively small areas, the impact of the proposed measures on workloads are likely to be limited.
37. Legal; The proposals require amendments to the York Parking, Stopping and Waiting Traffic Regulation Order 2014:
· Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 & the Local Authorities Traffic Orders (procedure) (England & Wales) Regulations 1996 apply.
38. When considering whether to make or amend a TRO, CYC as the Traffic Authority needs to consider:
39. The duty of the Authority (as set out in section 122(1) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984) to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of vehicular and other traffic (including pedestrians) so far as practicable;
40. Factors which may point in favour of imposing a restriction on that movement. Such factors include the effect of such movement on the amenities of the locality and any other matters appearing to be relevant, including all the factors mentioned in Section 1 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 as being expedient in deciding whether a TRO should be made; and;
41. The balance between these considerations to come to the appropriate decision.
42. When considering the parking restrictions proposed for the Water End slip road, the Traffic Authority has considered its duty (as stated above) against the factors mentioned in Section 1 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the provision of access to recreational areas for all users, whilst implementing the Local Transport Plan’s objective of restricting commuter and visitor parking close to the city centre to encourage the use of Park & Ride and sustainable modes of transport in the urban area.
43. Procurement; Any change, or additional signage will be procured in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and where applicable, the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The Commercial Procurement team will need to be consulted should any purchasing for additional signage take place.
44. Health and Wellbeing: The introduction of a time limit on car parking on the Water End slip road aims to ensure that the small area of car parking remains available for recreational users of the riverside during the day. This should have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of users of the paths alongside the river by enabling those who may not be able to travel there by sustainable modes to park near a convenient access pint to access the riverside paths and open areas available near the River Ouse.
45. Environment and Climate action; implementing residents parking restrictions will restrict the number of vehicle movements looking to find on street parking and encourage the use of more sustainable transport modes for non-residents by reducing the opportunities to park in or close to the city centre, in line with Local Transport Plan objectives.
46. Affordability: residents and their visitors requiring on street parking on Government House Road will be required to pay to purchase a resident parking permit (or other permit as applicable) along with any visitor permits which would also be required. The financial impact on the residents of Government House Road is likely to be limited as most dwellings have sufficient off-street parking available to cater for the day to day needs of the dwellings. Limited waiting of 2 hours on Water End slip road is proposed to remain free of charge. The drivers which currently park on the Water End slip road are likely to have to find somewhere else to park, possibly at a cost (car parks, pay and display bays or Park & Ride), change transport mode or change destination.
47. Equalities and Human Rights: No direct equalities and human right implications have been identified.
48. This proposal would affect those residents living in the proposed extended area and any other residents who may currently utilise the existing unrestricted parking available
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49. It is important to note however that Blue Badge holders are able to park in resident parking areas and limited waiting bays free of charge for unlimited durations.
50. Blue Badge holders would therefore be able to continue parking on Government House Road and on the Water End slip road without any additional costs or time restrictions.
51. Data Protection and Privacy; no issues identified.
52. Communications; no issues identified.
53. Economy; no issues identified.
54.
Specialist Implications Officers; no issues identified.
Risks and Mitigations
55. In compliance with the Council’s risk management strategy there is an acceptable level of risk associated with the recommended option.
Wards Impacted
Clifton
Contact details
For further information please contact the authors of this Decision Report.
Author
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Name: |
Annemarie Howarth |
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Job Title: |
Traffic Projects Officer |
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Service Area: |
Network Management |
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Telephone: |
01904 551337 |
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Report approved: |
Yes/No |
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Date: |
19/03/2024 |
Background
papers
N/A
Annexes:
· Annex A: Consultation letter sent to residents of Government House Road.
· Annex B: Questionnaire to return with preferred options.
· Annex C: Plan of the consultation area and proposed extended R23 boundary.
· Annex D: How a Resident Parking Scheme Works using entry/exit regulations, the current cost of permits.
· Annex E: Additional update letter sent to residents relating to the slip road request.
· Annex F: Plan of proposed restrictions.
· Annex G: Written representation received against the proposal.
· Annex H: Additional comments received after update letter sent in relation to Water End slip road.
· Annex I: Data collated during the Parking Survey undertaken on Government House Road and the Water End slip road.