Agenda item

Purpose of the Report

To provide a summary of the Parking Strategy and Delivery Plan as detailed at Appendices 1 and 2 of the officer’s reportand request approval by Executive.

Decision

That the Parking Strategy and Delivery Plan be approved by Executive.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None were considered.Not updating the Council’s Parking strategy would mean that the Council did not have a strategy which reflected current and future car parking demands as well as addressing environmental matters around climate change which could have a negative impact on the City, its residents and visitors alike.

Reasons for the Decision

The provision of adequate and efficient off-street and residents parking in the City was crucial in helping ensure Lincoln successfully continued in its role as the key urban centre for Lincolnshire and the wider area. The last Parking Strategy was produced in 2015 and the City had changed significantly since that time; a new strategy was required that met the needs of residents and businesses both now and into the future.

Officers had been working on a review of the Parking Strategy and production of a Parking Delivery Plan and these two pieces of work had now been completed. The delivery plan effectively set parking service priorities and policies to be delivered by the Council over the next 5 years. It should be noted that the strategy predominantly focused around off-street parking provision in our car parks, but also covered the City Council’s role in connection with on-street residents parking too. It did not cover the majority of other on-street parking provisions/restrictions - these being within the remit of Lincolnshire County Council.

The Council operated 22 car parks which provided a total of 3,563 spaces within its boundary. The last Parking Strategy was produced in 2015 through the use of external consultants and obviously, since that time significant changes had taken place in terms of development within the City and transport and planning policy at both national and local levels. Such changes warranted the need for the production of an updated Parking Strategy which the Council could take forward with confidence.

An outline of the Parking Strategy Review Process was provided within the officer’s report. The factors for change which set out the parameters for the review since 2015 included:

·       Climate Change and Sustainability

·       Contribution of Parking Income on Medium Term Financial Strategy

·       Impact of Covid

·       Technological Advancements in Parking

·       Parking Pricing

·       Innovation and Future Proofing

·       Rationalisation of Car Park Assets

These factors helped in turn to set the overall scope of the Parking Strategy Review as detailed within the officer’s report.

Much stakeholder engagement was carried out to inform the review process including workshop sessions across the City, together with public consultation and member engagement.

The Parking Strategy set out six priorities for action over the next five years:

• Priority 1:Re-Distribute Demand
• Priority 2:Maintain and Diversify Income Streams
• Priority 3:Car Park Improvements Including Preparing for Shift to Electric Vehicles
• Priority 4:Residents Parking
• Priority 5:Events, Marketing and Branding
• Priority 6:Asset Maximisation

As this was such a changing operating environment, it was proposed to review the action plan annually together with a light touch review of the overall strategy every three years.

The strategy needed to acknowledge that there was a delicate and sensitive balance in the City to provide sufficient parking to maintain and support residents and businesses in Lincoln whilst at the same time encouraging modal shift from a carbon reduction perspective. Getting this right represented the single biggest challenge over the duration of this strategy. This balance was achieved to an extent in this first plan period by continuing to encourage the move to electric vehicles to cut emissions, and then seeking over the full term of the strategy to reduce overall car volumes entering the city centre, and hence influencing other wider strategy documents such as the City Centre Masterplan Review and Lincoln Transport Strategy.

(Members extended their thanks to officers for their excellent work on the Parking Strategy)