Agenda item - Strategic Reviews of City Centre Access and Council Car Parking

The Corporate Director of Place to present a report which sets out the outcomes of the Strategic Reviews of City Centre Access and Council Car Parking commissioned by the Executive in November 2020, and recommends the adoption of the associated action plans.

Resolved: (i) That the Strategic Review of City Centre Access and associated Action Plan at Annex 1 to the report be approved, including the creation of an Access Officer post.

Reason: To agree a clear strategy for access to and through the city centre footstreets and approve the action plan (subject to the success of identified funding bids) to implement the improvements to access that have been developed through public and stakeholder engagement.

(ii) That the City Centre Access model set out in the Strategic Review of City Centre Access be approved as a key principle in Local Transport Plan 4.

Reason: To ensure the council’s strategic priorities are aligned and consistent.

(iii) That the Strategic Review of Council Car Parking and associated Action Plan at Annex 2 be approved.

Reason: To allow the council to define and invest strategically in its priority car parks and to inform future decisions on which car parks could be used for alternatives uses should future parking demand decline through either market conditions or policy based decisions.

(iv) That it be noted that a future report on whether to re-commence the paused procurement of a contractor to build St George’s Field MSCP will be brought to Executive as part of a wider delivery update on the Castle Gateway project in February 2022.

Reason: To consider whether to proceed with St George’s Field MSCP in light of the outcomes of the Strategic Review of Council Car Parking, a review of the business case, and the wider progress of the masterplan.

(v) That the Access Officer be asked to bring updates on the progress of implementing the Access Action Plan to the relevant portfolio holder for review.

Reason: To ensure that the progress of the plan is monitored.

(vi) That more opportunities be explored for blue badge parking on the edge of the footstreets.

Reason: To increase the availability of blue badge parking close to the city centre where possible.

The Director of Environment, Transport & Planning and the Head of Regeneration & Economy presented a report which summarised the outcomes of the Strategic Reviews of City Centre Access and Council Car Parking, commissioned by the Executive in November 2020, and recommended the adoption of the associated action plans.

The Access review, attached as Annex 1 to the report, was based on extensive public and stakeholder engagement and proposed a clear strategy for travel through the city centre and how access to and through the footstreets could be improved for disabled people, deliveries, cyclists and residents. The car parking review, at Annex 2, had two parts. It:

· identified information gaps in the use and provision of car parks that could be improved to guide future decision making in Local Transport Plan 4; and

· created a hierarchy of council car parks to inform both current investment decisions and responses to any future decline in demand.

In response to Members’ questions and matters raised under Public Participation, officers confirmed that:

· The Castle car park was not included in the Parking review because the decision had already been made to close it;

· All but two of the recommendations in the Martin Higgitt Associates report at Annex 7 had been captured in the Access action plan;

· The Access Officer, when appointed, would be able to examine the potential for disabled cycling in the city centre;

· Opportunities for blue badge parking on the edge of the footstreets could be kept under review;

· A progress report on the Access action plan could be brought back to Members..

Having noted the comments made under Public Participation and the advice of Scrutiny and officers’ responses published in the agenda supplements, it was