Agenda item

Report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services which reported on the objections received following a period of consultation on the introduction of parking charges at War Memorial Park.

The off-street car parks at the War Memorial Park namely those at Leamington Road, Coat of Arms Bridge Road and Kenilworth Road, were often used by people who are not necessarily visiting the park for the purposes of recreational activities which is the basis upon which the park is held. This therefore would often present an issue for park users in relation to the availability of car parking spaces. In the best interest of the War Memorial Park and its users, it was proposed that parking charges be introduced.

The principle of introducing charges at the aforementioned car parks were approved by Cabinet on 25 February 2020, where the City Council’s Cabinet met as the trustees of the War Memorial Park, on behalf of the City Council. Delegated authority was granted to the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities to finalise the charging structure including undertaking the appropriate due diligence and completion of any necessary legal process.

A Notice of Proposals setting out the Council’s intention was advertised from 8th October – 29th October 2020. A total of 18 objections were received (1 withdrawn),1 letter of support and 2 comment/questions. The report detailed the objections received for consideration by the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities. 

Car parking charges would apply to all three car parks associated with the War Memorial Park. Pay and Display machines would be installed at Coat of Arms Bridge Road and Leamington Road car parks.  A barriered pay on foot station would be installed at the Kenilworth Road car park.  It was proposed that the payment terminals required at the car parks would be cashless payment. Location plans were included in Appendix A of the report.

The parking charges proposed included a 3 hour period of free parking for all users of the car parks, followed by hourly incremental charges up to a maximum of £5. The proposed charges would include a discounted tariff of £1 for users of the Park and Ride facility who stay over the 3hr free period.  The full proposed tariff was included in Appendix B of the report.

The Council holds the legal title to the War Memorial Park by virtue of a Conveyance dated 27 January 1921. The land was transferred to the Council to be held and maintained by the Corporation and its successors as a public park for the people or for use for agricultural shows or similar purposes with a right to charge for admission. The wording of this conveyance clearly settled the land (including the War Memorial Park) on charitable trust and as such the City Council was now the sole corporate trustee of the Trust.

Any income received from any agreement can only be used toward furthering  the purpose upon which the charity was provided and cannot be used for the local authority’s general purposes. Any income received from the asset must be kept separate from that of the Council and accounted for separately.

Any net consideration (once the costs of implementation and administration have been deducted) received for War Memorial Park car parking would enable the park to move towards being maintained on a finically self-sufficient basis and as such would contribute to long term enhancement of the park.

In order for the Council to impose charges and carry out necessary enforcement action the car parks need to be added to the Off-street Parking Places Order by variation order namely, “City of Coventry (Off-Street Parking Places) Order 2005 (War Memorial Park Car Parks) (Variation) Order 2020.

As part of the above procedures, the Notice of Proposals was advertised in the Coventry Telegraph on 8 October 2020 detailing the proposed variation order and that any formal objections to the making of the order should be made in writing by 29 October 2020. Notices were also placed in all the associated car parks and public notice boards throughout the park. A copy of the Notice, the Statement of Reasons, draft order and identifying plans were made available for inspection on the Council’s website.

Subject to approval, the proposal was to proceed with the introduction of charging in early 2021.

In relation to questions raised by Members, the Head of Streetscene and Greenspaces gave assurances that a methodology would be established and introduced to capture relevant information and data for monitoring and benchmarking purposes. This would include an impact analysis of any displacement parking issues caused in the area as a result of the introduction of the car parking charges.

Members further sought clarification on what charges, if any, would apply to blue badge holders. It was reported that there would be no charges for blue badge holders.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member having considered the report, the objections received and the comments raised at the meeting; approves the implementation of the charging structure at the War Memorial Park as detailed in Appendix 2 of the report, noting that this will be undertaken by making of the said Variation Order.

Post Meeting Note: Following the meeting, and in relation to parking charges for blue badge holders, Members received clarification that under the proposed charging structure, disabled badge holders would not be charged for the first 3 hours of parking and after that time, charging rates would apply as set out in the report.