Agenda item

Councillor Mark Storer proposed the following motion:

‘The Lincoln Central Car Park continues to be plagued with customer facing issues. The lifts are very rarely fully operational, the payment machines have recently had significant down time and on busy days, traffic can build up within the car park – resulting in motorists waiting for over half an hour to get from their parking bay to the exit.

Despite costing a significant amount of money, this car park does not perform in the way that its customers expect.

This Council requests that the City of Lincoln Council conduct a full review of the Lincoln Central Car Park providing a full detailed report to Council – this review must focus on completely resolving the issues that continue to plague the car park more than half a decade after its initial opening’.

Councillor Mark Storer confirmed that the car park was a new gateway to prosperity in Lincoln and had opened 6 years ago but had sadly not provided the high-quality experience for businesses, residents and visitors. A total of £150,000 had been ring fenced for the repair of the lifts which caused concern, given their age. The motion requested a full review which focussed on the issued that plagued the car park.

Councillor David Clarkson seconded the motion and reserved the right to speak.

Councillor Martin Christopher confirmed that he was pleased to see the motion. He advised that the city Council’s parking services team had not been in discussions of the design of the park. He referred to the payment machines and stated that a person was required overnight in the case of a lost parking ticket. Many of the car parks operated on a park and ride basis.

Councillor Chris Burke highlighted that every car park had issues and everything built could experience issues. He added that it would be unusual for all the lifts and stairs to fail. The car park was superbly built and well maintained. It was important to recognise successes and not to be overly critical.

Councillor Naomi Tweddle, Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth, commented that central car park had proved incredibly successful. Last year, a total of 181,427 cars visited the car park which far exceeded the volume of any other car park in the city. Customer satisfaction remained high and with such popularity, wear and tear became inevitable.

Equipment had to cope with thousands of transactions a month and there was an increased risk of failure in the cold and damp months. A number of individual payment machines were to be repaired and the oldest fault was from the end of October. Consideration had been given to why the machined had not worked properly. On Remembrance Saturday, there was a large volume of traffic. This circumstance was unique and therefore, not commonplace. Officers had worked on a mitigation plans in the run up to Christmas to alleviate the impact as much was possible. She confirmed that there was a desire to spread demand on other car parks within the city centre and work had commenced to make other car parks more attractive to use. She acknowledged the situation caused frustration to visitors with pushchairs etc.

It was not foreseeable that the North side was used significantly more when compared to the South side. Consultation with specialist contractors had taken place to carry out an assessment of the car park. A quote had been received to enable repair of the two minor parts that needed replacement. The work would be carried out as soon as possible.

Councillor Naomi Tweddle concluded that the park was built to a high standard and was very safe to use. There were reliability issues, but it would be resolved. The car park demonstrated the great transport hub that the city Council had provided.

Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the Council, commented that Members be proud of the high standard car park that was used by many people. He added that it was clear that the issues highlighted had not discouraged use of the car park. He expressed confusion of a motion that sought to criticise the car park. He acknowledged that it was inconvenient for customers if a lift or payment machine had not worked correctly however the test was how quickly issues were resolved. He concluded that a review wasted officer resources and was premature as the identified issues were in the process of correction.

Councillor Thomas Dyer, Leader of the Opposition commented that Councillor David Clarkson was a fantastic asset to the Council and Conservative group. He confirmed that he had discussed concerns with a parking attendant on the day prior to Remembrance Sunday. He explained that further to discussions, it was a peak occurrence on every busy Saturday. He added that there was a significant amount of concern over the car park and discussions were not intended to criticise. The purpose of the motion was to improve the car parks’ success. He offered thanks to Councillor Naomi Tweddle and was pleased to learn that all concerns had been taken seriously however he suggested that there was no harm in a report or a review which offered reassurance to the public and Members. Councillor Dyer expressed disappointment in comments received that the use of the stairs was a suitable alternative to the lift. It was important that the needs of pushchair users, wheelchair users and visitors were considered. The signage was poor and many people were unaware that there were additional lifts.

Councillor Clare Smalley confirmed that it appeared the use of the car park was blamed for the issues experienced. She echoed frustration with comments received that the use of the stairs was a suitable alternative to the lift. Her view was that the city offered other car parks however it may be the case that individuals used the central car park due to disabilities or the requirement of a lift for a pushchair. She concluded that all Members wanted to be proud of all City of Lincoln assets.

Councillor Edmund Strengiel addressed the Chamber with clarification of his umbrage to comments that suggested the Opposition had criticised Lincoln and confirmed that was not intended. He referred to last paragraph within the motion and added that debate was permitted as Members of the Council. He added that all Members were elected Members of the Council and irrespective of political affiliation, all retained the right to conduct a review and debate an issue.

He shared his own experience of attendance to the car park a number of months ago where both sets of lifts were out of order. In addition, there was a large puddle of water by the exit. He confirmed that the motion considered the issues and attempted to resolve them.

Councillor David Clarkson, using his right to speak, confirmed that stairs rarely failed. There had been occasions where both North end lifts had failed at the same time. He confirmed that the Opposition had not criticised and expressed his praise for the car park. He added that the ramps had low level curb stones, unlike Lucy Tower car park which meant that visitors accessed and exited the car park easily. In addition, his view was that spaces had been designed for modern cars and offered plenty of room. The car park was extremely well lit. He explained that there had been incidents of anti-social behaviour and therefore, it was positive that the car park was manned 24 hours a day.

He added that there had been lifts longer than muti story car parks and regular use was not an acceptable reason for failure. He expressed surprise that two minor parts were estimated to cost £150,000 and confirmed that the car park specification should have been designed to cope with the volume of traffic. He shared Members’ experiences of the car park on Remembrance Day and confirmed that it took 55 minutes to exit the car park. He confirmed that the two barriers had worked well however issues surrounded the junction that lead to Broadgate. Traffic had been restricted by traffic lights. The motion only requested a review and did not proportion blame. The advice of the designers had been taken and the equipment recommended had been installed.

Councillor Matthew Fido confirmed that the car park was the jewel in Lincoln’s crown. He confirmed that with so much revenue generated from car parking, the car parks needed to be accessible to everyone. The scrutiny was in place with democratic oversight.

Councillor Mark Storer, using his right of reply, offered thanks to Councillor Naomi Tweddle for the serious consideration offered of the issues and urged Members considered the motion carefully.

Councillor Mark Storer formally requested a recorded vote on the motion.

Further to a show of hands and in accordance with the prescribed requirements under Council Procedural Rule 19.4, a recorded vote was agreed and taken on the motion, the result of which were as follows:

Having been proposed and seconded and being put to the vote it was RESOLVED that the motion be declared lost.