1910 - Chipping Barnet Parking Review

7/29/2019 1910 - Chipping Barnet Parking Review

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DELEGATED POWERS REPORT NO. 1910

SUBJECT: Chipping Barnet Town Centre Parking Review - Experimentalintroduction of Parking Changes

Control sheet

All of the following actions MUST be completed at each stage of the process and

the signed and dated report MUST be passed to the Governance Service forpublishing

All reports

1. Governance Service receive draft report Name of GSO DPR Mailbox

Date 18/01/13

2. Governance Service cleared draft report asbeing constitutionally appropriate

Name of GSO Chidilim Agada

Date 18/01/13

3. Finance clearance obtained (report author tocomplete)

Name of Fin. officer Gary Hussein

Date 18/01/13

4. Staff and other resources issues clearanceobtained (report author to complete)

Name of Res. officer Not applicable

Date

5. Strategic Procurement clearance obtained(report author to complete)

Name of SPO Not applicable

Date

6. Legal clearance obtained from (report author tocomplete)

Name of Legal officer Chileme Hayes

Date: 18/01/13

7. Policy & Partnerships clearance obtained

(report author to complete)

Name of P&P officer Andrew Nathan

Date 15/01/13

8. Equalities & Diversity clearance obtained(report author to complete)

Name of officer Andrew Nathan

Date 15/01/13

9. The above process has been checked andverified by Director, Head of Service or Deputy

Name Councillor Dean Cohen

Date 24/01/13

10. Signed & dated report, scanned or hard copyreceived by Governance Service for publishing


Date 25/01/13

11. Report published by Governance Service to

website


Date 25/01/13

12. Head of Service informed report is published Name of GSO Chidilim Agada

Date 25/01/13

13. Expiry of call-in period Date Not applicable

14. Report circulated for call-in purposes toBusiness Management OSC members &copied to Cabinet Members & Head of Service

Name of GSO Not applicable

Date


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ACTION TAKEN BY CABINET MEMBER (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION)

Subject Chipping Barnet Town Centre ParkingReview Experimental introduction of

Parking Changes

Cabinet Member Cabinet Member for Environment

Date of Decision 24 January 2012

Date of decision comes

into effect

24 January 2012

Summary This report recommends the introduction of parking changeson an experimental basis following the completion of thereview of parking in Chipping Barnet Town Centre which wascarried out as part of the borough wide Town Centre andShopping Parades Review

Officer Contributors Gavin Woolery Allen Senior Engineer, Traffic andDevelopment Section, Environment, Planning andRegeneration

Status (public or exempt) Public

Wards affected High Barnet, Underhill

Enclosures Appendix A: Summary of responses to questionnaire fromChipping Barnet businesses

Drawing nos. 15953_3a and 15953_3b

Reason for exemption from call-in (if appropriate)

Not applicable

Key decision No

Contact for further information:

Serial No. 1910


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1. RELEVANT PREVIOUS DECISIONS

1.1 Leader of the Councils Delegated Powers Report 1727 of 9 July 2012 approvednew parking initiatives and charges in Environment Planning and Regeneration.

1.2 Cabinet Member for Environment Delegated Powers Report 1847 of 5 November2012 approved the introduction of parking changes on an experimental basisfollowing the completion of a North Finchley Town Centre parking review.

2. CORPORATE PRIORITIES AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

2.1 The three priority outcomes set out in the 2012/13 Corporate Plan are:

Better services with less money Sharing opportunities, sharing responsibilities A successful London suburb

2.1 Introducing amendments to parking controls in the borough will contribute to thepriority A Successful London Suburb by keeping traffic moving.

2.2 The London Mayors Transport Strategy also addresses these areas through:Proposal 30: The Mayor, through TFL, and working with the London boroughs andother stakeholders, will introduce measures to smooth traffic flow to managecongestion (delay, reliability and network resilience) for all people and freightmovements on the road network, and maximise the efficiency of the network.These measures will include c) keep traffic moving , e) Planning andimplementing improvements to the existing road network, to improve traffic

flow on the most congested sections of the network, and to improve conditions forall road users.

3. RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES

3.1 It is considered that the issues involved are likely to give rise to policyconsiderations as failure to sustain and enhance Barnets town centres will impairtheir key contribution to the social, economic and environmental well-being of theborough.

3.2 The proposed measures and reductions in tariff have been designed to cater for

local trading demands and to encourage a higher patronage and turnover of spacesin the Chipping Barnet area. There is a theoretical risk that the reduced parkingtariffs may not improve turnover and patronage to achieve the increase in parkingincome. This has been assessed against existing generated income, which iscurrently significantly below the level predicted for the current financial year. Shouldincome not match currently achieved parking revenue, then a recovery plan will bedeveloped by the Environment, Planning and Regeneration directorate to mitigatethe loss in revenue.

3.3 The proposals have been formulated having given serious consideration to thecomments contained within the questionnaires, (see paragraphs 8.6 to 8.8 below),those made at meetings with local stakeholders and council priorities. Theintroduction of the measures on an experimental basis will allow the Council to


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monitor and make changes if necessary to any or all elements of the changes, orabandoning the changes should it think fit.

4. EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES

4.1 Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 requires a decision-maker to have due regardto achieving a number of equality goals: (i) to eliminate discrimination, harassment,victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by the Act; (ii) to advanceequality of opportunity between those with protected characteristics and those

without; and (iii) to foster good relations between persons with a relevant protectedcharacteristic and those without. The relevant protected characteristics are age,disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief,sex and sexual orientation.

4.2 The Town Centre and Shopping Parades Parking Review (TCSPPR) aims to createthe right environment for vibrant and viable town centres in Barnet. Integral to this isthe need to respect the diversity of the town centre network and to take into account

the different requirements of each town centre, and the different needs andpreferences of those who use them. The proposals in this report therefore addressaccessibility issues by creating parking options in Chipping Barnet Town Centre

which motorists should find easier to use.

4.3 The changes resulting from the TCSPPR will identify opportunities to enhance thepublic realm and improve accessibility for all users and will seek to support theprovision of a wide range of shops and services to meet the needs of diverse localpopulations.

5. USE OF RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS (Finance, Procurement, Performance &

Value for Money, Staffing, IT, Property, Sustainability)

5.1 The costs of preparing the TCSPPR have been contained within the existing capitalbudget for this initiative.

5.2 The changes to parking controls on an experimental basis would requireamendments to existing Traffic Management Orders which essentially forms part ofthe statutory consultation process. Total estimated costs for the necessary statutoryprocess, including advertising, printing, and all officer time, including considerationof any comments received, report writing and the introduction of the measures, areestimated to be approximately 20,000, the costs of which can be met from the

existing capital budget of 100,000 for carrying out and introducing measuresresulting from the Town Centre and Shopping Parades Parking Review.

5.3 Should there be a need to consider additional measures as a result of the statutoryprocesses, funding may need to be sought from other capital budgets within theDirectorate to support the initiatives.

5.4 The lines and signs will require periodic ongoing routine maintenance.

6. LEGAL ISSUES

6.1 The Traffic Management Act 2004 places an obligation on authorities to ensure theexpeditious movement of traffic on their road network. Authorities are required to


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make arrangements as they consider appropriate for planning and carrying out theaction to be taken in performing the duty.

6.2 The Councils charging powers are regulated by the general duty on Authoritiesunder Section 122 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to have so far aspracticable having regard to the matters specified in subsection (2) to secure the

expeditious, convenient and safe movement of vehicular and other traffic and theprovision of suitable and adequate parking facilities on and off the highway.

7. CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS

7.1 Council Constitution, Part 3, Responsibility for Functions, Section 3.3 provides thatCabinet Members may discharge the executive functions that fall within theirportfolio, whether or not they are also delegated to officers except for mattersspecifically reserved to Council, Cabinet or cabinet committees.

8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

8.1 In September and October 2012 the Council undertook a parking review of TownCentres and Shopping Parades where Pay by Phone facilities are located. Thereview was carried out by delivering a letter to 2380 businesses and traders acrossthe borough inviting them to complete an online questionnaire designed to obtainknowledge of their parking requirements with a view to establishing whether thecurrent parking arrangements in the boroughs Town Centres and ShoppingParades could be improved to better serve the town centre community. Theopportunity was also given to return a traditional hard copy if they so wished.

8.2 The review focused specifically on 20 individual town centres and shopping parades

within the borough and this report summarises the analysis of the review in theChipping Barnet Town Centre and makes recommendations for changes to improveboth customer service and turnover of space through appropriate controls.

8.3 The overarching aim of this study was to comprehensively review the effectivenessand impact of the parking controls in the Chipping Barnet Town Centre identifiedthrough public consultation and ongoing discussions with local stakeholders; toensure the current parking arrangements cater for the existing and future needs ofresidents, visitors, traders and businesses.

8.4 In total 187 questionnaire responses were received from the 2380 businesses and

traders across the borough by the closing date of Friday 19 October 2012,representing a response rate of 8%. Of this, 200 letters were delivered in ChippingBarnet Town Centre and 38 questionnaires received. This represents a 19% localresponse rate the highest local response rate from all the 20 Town Centres andShopping Parades engaged.

8.5 A summary of the responses of the returned questionnaires from Chipping BarnetTown Centre is contained within Appendix A.

8.6 The questionnaire asked businesses and traders a range of specific questionsregarding the type of business and its business functions and requirements. Of the

38 respondents:

16(42%) were retail establishments


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19 (50%) used between 1 and 3 vehicles to carry out their business functions

20 (52%) had between 1 and 3 vehicles driven to their work premises byemployees

9 (23%) had at least one business permit registered to their business

20 (52%) had a loading requirement of some sort and 16 (80%) of these hadan on-street loading requirement

11 (28%) considered the current loading bays unsuitable for theirrequirements

21 (55%) were unaware that unless there are loading restrictions in force,you can load and unload on a yellow line for up to 40 minutes and they couldalso do this in a parking bay

25 (65%) felt the needs of disabled drivers were met in their area

27 (71%) identified passing trade as their main customer base

2 (5%) identified the average shopping time for customers was between 0and 10 minutes

12 (31%) identified the average shopping time for customers was between

10 and 30 minutes 11 (28%) identified the average shopping time for customers was between

30 minutes and 1 hour

6 (16%) identified the average shopping time for customers was between 1and 2 hours

3 (8%) identified the average shopping time for customers was more than 2hours

8.7 A section of the questionnaire, also asked businesses and traders to list in order ofpriority, what their main concerns were with the current parking regime in the area.It is important to note that this section of the questionnaire did not include any

prompting from the council, as the comments page was left blank. Of the 38businesses and traders who responded, the following was identified as being ofmost concern:

20 (40%) cited Pay By Phone

5 (14%) cited lack of free parking

4 (10%) cited level of parking fees and charges

4 (7%) cited lack of pay and display machines (coin payment)

1 (7%) cited the lack of parking facilities

8.8 Section 6 of the questionnaire, asked businesses and traders for further commentsin relation to the current parking regime. This section of the questionnaire did notinclude any prompting from the council, as the comments page was left blank. Ofthe 38 businesses and traders who responded, the following was identified as beingof most concern to businesses and traders:

9 cited lack of pay & display machines (coin payment)

6 cited Pay By Phone

4 traders requested help from the council 3 cited lack of free parking 3 cited level of parking fees and charges

2 requested that both Stapylton and Moxon Street car parks are converted to shortstay only

1 cited lack of parking facilities


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8.9 Discussions have also taken place between Council Officers and local stakeholders

and a local Ward Member, who are members of the High Barnet Strategy Board,whose interests, amongst other issues, focuses around increasing footfall in theTown Centre and patronage of its shops and other businesses. The findings of theTCSPPR mirror the Boards ongoing concerns about parking in Chipping Barnet

Town Centre.

8.10 It has been suggested through the questionnaire responses and throughdiscussions with local stakeholders that it is believed that by re-introducing coinoperated pay and display machines, introducing free parking and reducing carparking charges, visitor footfall will increase. However, the downturn in theeconomic climate and the effect of other shopping areas and methods on ChippingBarnet Town Centre must also be considered as contributing factors to the drop intrade being reported.

8.10 In considering the results of the TCSPPR, it has been considered that Chipping

Barnet Town Centre is made up of High Street extending from High BarnetUnderground Station in the south-east to the Hadley area in the north. The HighStreet acts as a commercial spine to the area, with mainly residential roadssurrounding it.

8.11 High Street forms part of the Chipping Barnet Controlled Parking Zone, which issplit into two main areas:

Zone C which operates Monday to Saturday 8am to 6.30pm, in order to afford localresidential roads protection from any motorist visiting the amenities which can befound in the Town Centre. This is a relatively large area, centred around the High

Street.

Zone D which operates Monday to Friday, 2pm to 3pm affords local residentialroads protection from motorists wishing to park in the area for the whole day. Thisarea is comprised of 7 roads located opposite High Barnet Station grounds.

8.12 High Street forms part of Zone C, but has a mixture of short-term pay by phoneparking bays designed to promote a regular turnover of parking availability to thebenefit of local businesses, and long term pay by phone/permit parking bayscatering for those wishing to visit the area for longer periods.

8.13 Due to the layout of the High Street, and the substantial lengths of kerbside spacewhere it is considered parking should not occur, i.e. at junctions and pedestriancrossing areas, and the necessity to provide sufficient capacity to handle theamount of traffic using the road, the number of parking spaces on High Streetbetween the Underground Station and Christ Church Lane is limited toapproximately 24 short stay pay by phone spaces and 27 shared use long stay payby phone/permit holder spaces.

8.14 Within the remainder of the CPZ, the layout includes many shared use long staypay by phone/permit holder spaces which are positioned in residential roads. The

designation of these spaces are often to the detriment of local residents who live inroads close to the High Street, as resident and business permit holders and thoseusing the pay by phone facilities compete for space, along with visitors to the area


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who may not know where similar parking spaces are positioned in roads furtheraway from the vicinity of the Town Centre.

8.15 Within the CPZ, there are also three Council-owned car parks in which pay byphone charges apply. The Stapylton Road (61 spaces plus 2 disabled badgespaces), Fitzohn Avenue (87 spaces plus 2 disabled badge spaces) and Moxon

Street (58 spaces plus 3 disabled badge spaces) car parks all offer motorists theopportunity to pay to park for short and long periods alike. However followingchanges made to the car park tariffs in September 2012, all three car parks havediffering tariffs with Stapylton Road Car Park providing the most attractive shortterm tariffs, and Fitzjohn Avenue Car Park being most attractive for those wishing topark all day.

8.16 The Town Centre also benefits from an additional car park which is not owned bythe Council - The Spires car park, which has approximately 440 spaces, and

whose charges historically could be seen as more attractive to the short term parkerthan what is currently offered by the Council to park on-street and off-street.

However the recent tariff change in Stapylton Road Car Park could be seen to havemade it more attractive than The Spires car park.

8.17 A study of Chipping Barnet Town Centre Pay by Phone parking places has beenundertaken, in order to develop an understanding of current on and off streetparking usage and revenue. The analysis suggests that there has been a markeddecrease in the potential earnings of on and off street parking revenue, given themaximum uptake, in line with current charges.

8.18 Although the detailed analysis carried out only reflects one particular week, whichwas selected as being a typical week reducing the impact of any influences on

patronage, and may not reflect patterns across the entire year, following thisanalysis in conjunction with the responses to the Town Centre review, it isconsidered that the current parking regime is one of the numbers of factorsdeterring visitors to the area. More specifically, aside from the payment mechanism,the main issue of those who responded identified cost as the issue of most concern.

8.19 In light of the findings of the TCSPPR for Chipping Barnet, and as a result of thediscussions with local stakeholders, it is considered that a series of changes shouldbe made to the parking regime in Chipping Barnet Town Centre. These changesshould focus on providing additional parking spaces on-street for short term visitors

to the Town Centre and making existing Town Centre spaces more attractive forvisiting motorists. It is also considered that there is scope to further review theparking layout of the Town Centre and in surrounding roads with a view toaccommodating long stay parkers who currently park all day near the Town Centre,further afield in order to free up further space for shoppers.

8.20 It is therefore considered that the following changes be introduced:

convert the long stay pay by phone/permit parking places outside Nos. 12-14 and20-24 High Street to 1 hour maximum stay pay by phone parking places with thefollowing tariff: Up to 30 mins: 0.65; Up to 1 hour: 1.30

enable certain residents of High Street (Nos. 1 to 15 and Nos. 2 to 24) to obtain DCPZ resident permits.


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introduce a Monday to Saturday 8am to 6.30pm 1 hour maximum stay pay by

phone parking place in Fitzjohn Avenue with the following tariff: Up to 30 mins:0.65; Up to 1 hour: 1.30 (Location no. 9114)

convert part of a long stay pay by phone/permit parking place in Union Street to

Monday to Saturday 8am to 6.30pm 1 hour maximum stay pay by phone parkingplaces with the following tariff: - Up to 30 mins: 0.65; Up to 1 hour: 1.30

Remove the ability for business permit holders to park in the pay by phone/permitparking places on High Street between Christ Church Lane and St Albans Road,and introduce a maximum pay by phone stay of 4 hours in these parking places

with the following tariff: Up to 30 mins: 0.65; Up to 1 hour: 1.30; Up to 2 hours:2.60; Up to 4 hours: 3.25 (Location Nos. 9108, 9099 and 9065)

introduce a maximum stay of 4 hours in the Moxon Street car park with a tariffcommensurate with the current Stapylton Road car park tariff: Up to 30 mins: 0.50;

Up to 1 hour: 1.00; Up to 2 hours: 2.00; Up to 4 hours: 2.50.

Prohibit business permit holders from parking in Moxon Street and Stapylton Road carparks.

provide improved signage to indicate the location of Moxon Street car park from HighStreet

adapt the existing loading bays on High Street to allow 15 minutes free parking, withno return within 1 hour between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Saturday

reduce the parking tariffs in certain pay by phone parking places (pay by phonelocation nos. specified below) on High Street, Park Road, Moxon Street, HadleyGreen, Stapylton Road and Bruce Road, (according to their maximum stay) to:

1 hour maximum stayUp to 30 mins: 0.65Up to 1 hour: 1.30

Applicable to: Location Nos. 9080, 9064, 9051, 9060, 9055, 9057, 9070 and 9068

Long stay

Up to 30 mins: 0.65Up to 1 hour: 1.30Up to 3 hours: 2.60Over 3 hours:: 4.55

Applicable to: Location Nos. 9154, 9533,9524 and 9525

seek to obtain local business feedback on the interest or otherwise in formalising anarrangement to encourage business permit holders to park in Fitzjohn Avenue carpark and/or in certain parking places on-street slightly away from the Town Centre, by

way of an attractive business permit charge

8.21 The proposed changes are illustrated on the attached drawing Nos. 15953_3a and15353_3b


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8.22 Although it is considered that the measures outlined in paragraph 8.20 will in the firstinstance will make an improvement to parking provision for those wishing to park forshort periods and long periods alike in Chipping Barnet Town Centre, it is consideredthat further work should continue to be carried out in reviewing the current on-streetparking layout within the Town Centre and surrounding CPZ to establish whetherfurther improvements can be made. This includes investigating the appropriateness of

the existing permit parking places on High Street and near the Town Centre, andwhether it is feasible to incorporate permit parking in the surrounding CPZ. If furthermeasures are considered appropriate, approval will be sought via the relevantchannels in the coming months.

8.23 It is considered that the proposed changes outlined in paragraph 8.20 reflect theCouncils recognition of local needs and pressures, whilst still in keeping with theobjectives of encouraging different travel choices and balancing the needs ofdifferent user groups. In this way, the limited resource of parking within ChippingBarnet Town Centre can be managed effectively.

8.24 Given the potential wide ranging proposals that are interdependent, there is a needto ensure flexibility of approach so that any or all of the measures can be modifiedor removed if necessary to realise the maximum benefit from making such changesin Chipping Barnet Town Centre. Therefore it is considered that the best approachis to introduce the changes on an experimental basis in the first instance.

8.25 The cost of progressing and introducing the proposals as outlined in this report isestimated to be in the region of 20,000 as the experimental introduction of newparking places, new parking tariffs and changes to the usage of parking places

would require amendments to Traffic Management Orders, which if successfulwould then need to be made permanent. The estimated costs to make the

measures permanent would include advertising, printing, officer time, includingconsideration of any comments received, report writing and public notification of anyagreed measures, will be confirmed once they have been fully developed.

9. LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

9.1 Tabulated analysis of Chipping Barnet Town Centre pay by phone income study.

10. DECISION OF THE CABINET MEMBER(S)

I authorise the following action:

10.1 To approve the introduction of the measures as contained within this reportand outlined in Paragraph 8.20 on an experimental basis. All measures are tobe introduced as soon as practicable, complying with all necessary statutoryrequirements.

10.2 That the effectiveness and impact of introduced measures be monitoredclosely and action identified to mitigate against ineffectiveness includingfinancial underperformance.

10.3 That any unresolved material objections received are dealt with by theDirector of Environment, Planning and Regeneration under delegated powers,in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment before a decision is


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made in due course on whether to make all or any of the measurespermanent.

10.4 That work continues to be carried out in reviewing the current on-streetparking layout within the Chipping Barnet Town Centre and surrounding CPZto establish whether further improvements can be made in relation to Town

Centre parking. If further measures are considered appropriate, approval willbe sought via the relevant channels in the coming months.

Signed Councillor Dean Cohen

Cabinet Member for Environment

Date 24/01/13

1910 - Chipping Barnet Parking Review

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