Proposed Argyll and Bute Council (Off-street Parking Places AND Charges) (Inveraray) Order 202_
Argyll and Bute Council · 7 December 2022
Back to Mid Argyll, Kintyre & the Islands Area Committee — 7 December 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL MID ARGYLL, KINTYRE & THE ISLANDS AREA COMMITTEE DEVELOPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE 07 DECEMBER 2022 PROPOSED ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL (OFF-STREET PARKING PLACES AND CHARGES) (INVERARAY) ORDER 202_ 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 The report provides an update on the proposed Traffic Regulation Order “Argyll and Bute Council (Off-Street Parking Places and Charges) (Inveraray) Order 202_” (hereafter, the “TRO”) and provides detail of the objections to the draft TRO. 1.2 There were seven objections submitted to the proposed TRO, however; only five of these are considered to be valid. All five objections were maintained and remain extant. 1.3 To allow the Service to manage the off-street car park asset effectively and safely, it is the view of Officers that the Order should be made. RECOMMENDATIONS That the Committee agree that the draft “Argyll and Bute Council (Off-Street Parking Places and Charges) (Inveraray) Order 202_” TRO can be made.
Page 2
ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL MID ARGYLL, KINTYRE & THE ISLANDS AREA COMMITTEE DEVELOPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE 07 DECEMBER 2022 PROPOSED ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL (OFF-STREET PARKING PLACES AND CHARGES) (INVERARAY) ORDER 202_ 2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 This report provides an update on the proposed Traffic Regulation Order “Argyll and Bute Council (Off-Street Parking Places and Charges) (Inveraray) Order 202_” (hereafter, the “TRO”) and provides detail of the objections to the draft TRO. 3.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 3.1 That the Committee agree that the draft “Argyll and Bute Council (Off-Street Parking Places and Charges) (Inveraray) Order 202_” TRO can be made. 4.0 DETAIL 4.1 The proposed TRO is being progressed to allow the effective management of the off-street car park asset in Inveraray. Currently the pay & display car parks do have a control order in place but this is seasonal; the TRO seeks to introduce all year charging. In addition, 3 further “uncontrolled” free car parks are included in the TRO but remain free to use. Appendix 1 contains the draft TRO as published. 4.2 This is not the first TRO to propose a move to all year round charging in Inveraray. Of the previous two TROs, one was abandoned due to timing out and the second was abandoned pending a review of the TRO process arising from the Mull TRO. 4.3 To minimise the impact on previous objectors, the Service wrote to this group twice. The first letter was sent in March 2021 and advised that a new Inveraray off-street TRO was being proposed. The second letter was sent in May 2021
Page 3
following the completion of Consultation 1 & 2 and advised that the proposed TRO was moving to Consultation 3 (publication). 4.4 Consultation 1 & 2 were carried out as a combined stage. This phase closed on 25 March 2021. A number of comments were submitted and reviewed prior to the commencement of Consultation 3. 4.5 Consultation 3 is the stage where the proposals are published and any individual, organisation or group may submit formal objections to the draft TRO. This stage commenced on 17 September 2021 and closed on 1 November 2021. 4.6 Despite corresponding with objectors to previous Orders, only seven objections were received to the proposed TRO. Of the seven, only five provided addresses, the remaining two objections are therefore considered to be invalid. 4.7 There remaining five objections are summarised by theme in the table below alongside the Councils responses. Full detail can be viewed in Appendix 2. Note, however, that, while there is no right for anonymity for maintained objections it is the Councils standard practice to withhold the names and addresses of the objectors; as such these have been anonymised. Theme 1 Extending parking changes may exacerbate abuse form tourists. Loss of free parking in the winter months (i.e. increased cost to local residents) ABC Response The purpose of extending the charges isn’t to increase revenue but to bring the Inveraray pay & display car parks into alignment with the other P&D car parks The extension of the Order to the free car parks will allow appropriate enforcement which may reduce inappropriate behaviour. Theme 2 Local residents pay for the 6-month parking permit but continuously struggle to find a space to park as these are often occupied by motorcyclists and drivers - many of whom never appear to purchase a parking ticket. This makes paying for the permit even harder to justify. ABC Response As Theme 1 response and: The Council area is significant and we currently have 6 Wardens. Enforcement is targeted to high demand areas and in responding to areas of concern when raised. The Council recognise the challenge re motorcycles, however, while motorcyclists should pay for parking within a car parking bay the ticket cannot be displayed securely and this could form a reasonable basis for an appeal. Theme 3 As residents of Front Street, object to pay to park at our house. ABC Response Free car parks will remain free if the TRO is made.
Page 4
Theme 4 Many of the properties in the Conservation Area of Inveraray do not have parking facilities, so by introducing these charges you will be penalising those residents. ABC Response The Council is currently undertaking a review of the parking regime in the Council area, however; at this time there is no presumption made on the outcome of the review in regard to the parking tariffs or permit costs. There is, however, a significant amount of free accessible parking to Inveraray residents. Blue Badge holders are exempt from parking charges. 4.8 The proposed TRO will, if made, bring the Inveraray off-street pay & display car parks into the same regime as operated across the remainder of the Council area. More critically perhaps, the inclusion of the free car parks into the TRO will allow the Service to enforce the car parks, which will improve parking compliance, reduce irresponsible parking and make the car parks safer for all users. 4.9 To allow the Service to manage the Inveraray off-street car park asset effectively and safely, it is the view of Officers that the Order should be made. 5.0 CONCLUSION 5.1 This report provides detail of the objections to the draft “Argyll and Bute Council (Off-Street Parking Places and Charges) (Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay) 202_” TRO and recommends that the TRO be made. 5.2 The implementation of the TRO will incur costs in relation to the installation of signs and road markings. This is deliverable within existing budgets. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy – Parking Policy Framework 2014. 6.2 Financial – Signs and lining will be funded from the car parking revenue budget. 6.3 Legal – That the TRO be implemented as published. 6.4 HR – None known. 6.5 Fairer Scotland Duty: 6.5.1 Equalities - protected characteristics – None known. 6.5.2 Socio-economic Duty – None known. 6.5.3 Islands - N/A. 6.6 Climate Change – n/a.
Page 5
6.7 Risk – Safer roads for all road users. 6.8 Customer Service – in-line with Parking Policy Framework 2014. Kirsty Flanagan, Executive Director with responsibility for Roads and Infrastructure Services Jim Smith, Head of Roads and Infrastructure Services Councillor Andrew Kain, Policy Lead for Roads and Transport November 2022 For further information contact: Stuart Watson, Assistant Network & Standards Manager Stuart.Watson@argyll-bute.gov.uk APPENDIXES Appendix 1 – draft TRO Appendix 2 – Anonymised objections with responses