Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2020 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 July 2020 were agreed as an accurate record.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were none.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Committee considered the report regarding the revision of the parking charges. The New Business and Projects Manager, Public Realm, informed Members that the report provided details on the costs of managing kerb side demand and influencing car use, to support general accessibility to amenities and in response to overarching national, regional and local drivers for addressing the borough’s air quality and public health challenges.

In response to Councillor Clancy it was explained that if the parking charges were increased, it was thought that the demand to park would increase as it would enable better access for shorter stays to occur. It was also noted that it was difficult to estimate if parking would be displaced to private car parks, especially post-COVID 19, as the traffic had not returned to how it was pre-lockdown.

Councillor Ali stated that car-free zones being introduced in Croydon would be positive. The New Business and Projects Manager noted that according to TfL data, Croydon had the most potential in London to provide safe spaces for cyclists. He gave the statistics of cyclists in neighbouring boroughs to highlight how low the cycling rate was in Croydon.

Councillor Jewitt joined the meeting at 1850 hours.

Councillors Neal and Clancy raised concern for the removal of 30 minutes free parking and the affect this could have on local businesses, particularly in small district centres, which relied on drivers stopping briefly to shop. In response, the officer explained that drivers were discouraged from using cars for non-essential trips and they could walk or cycle to a local shop.

In response to Councillor Neal’s query regarding how air quality would be measured, the New Business and Projects Manager explained that the average of vehicle admissions could be calculated from parking bays and using the data collected by the pay and display machines.

In response to queries raised regarding the budget implications of COVID-19, the New Business and Projects Manager and the Director of Public Realm confirmed that the increase of parking charges was not in response to the shortfall created by the lockdown; the majority of the shortfall had been consolidated by the increase collected in August and September 2020 and the council were working with central government to mitigate any impact from COVID-19. It was confirmed that the increase in charges would cover the costs of work being completed by the transport team.

In response to Councillor Clancy, the Chair explained that the Mayor supported the freeze in transport fares; however, TfL was heavily reliant on fare income and this had significantly dropped during lockdown. He noted that more could be done on a local level, in terms of transport, such as offering financial incentives to purchase a bicycle instead of a car.

RESOLVED – That the Committee:

1)    Agreed, for the reasons detailed in this report, to amend the existing Traffic Management Orders to effect a 30p per 30min increase in the P&D parking bay charges and to advise the Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/20

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This was not required.