Review of Car Parking Charges in the East Riding of Yorkshire
A series of roadshows are taking place across the East Riding in the next few weeks on the subject of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council Parking Review Panel's proposals for new car parking car parking arrangements. The roadshows will be drop-in sessions, where people can view the proposals, ask questions and give comments.
All roadshows run between 4.30 and 7pm and are to be held as follows:
Thursday 2nd April @ Memorial Hall, Beverley.
Tuesday 7th April @ The Bell Hotel, Driffield
Monday 27th April @ Goole Leisure Centre
Thursday 30th @ Royal Spa, Bridlington
Monday 11th May @ Hornsea Secondary School
Thursday 14th May @ South Holderness Tech College, Preston
Monday 18th May @ Hessle Town Hall
Tuesday 21st May @ Pocklington Rugby Club
Thursday 11th June @ Cottingham Civic Hall
Many people have raised the issue of the proposed changes to car parking charges across the East Riding. I can see the pro's and the con's and have yet to decide which way I will vote when the vote comes to the Full Council. My decision, along with that of many fellow Councilors will only be made when we've seen the results of the consultation, therefore I encourage as many of you as possible to give your views.
8 comments:
Perhaps the best way forward for our community as a whole would be for the charges across the whole of East Yorkshire to be zero!
A few weeks ago one of the great and the good was on Humberside Radio telling us that the charges only paid for the administration and costs of running the staff to monitor them. Why in Gods name should we be expected to suffer ever increasing charges simply to employ staff to monitor such charges.
Many years ago there was a management study book which offered the concept that any course of action should be queried with the question "What would happen if I did not do xxxx?" If the answer is nothing then do not do it! Simple but it seems to escape the civil servant mentality.
If the East Riding Mail report is correct and £220,000 is to be spent on parking consultants it really does show the lunatics are running the asylum!
Come on Paul its time for our ERYC ruling party to get a grip on this bunch of clowns who seem to have no concept of what the term value for money means.
I must admit I’m struggling with this myself. I know that we don’t have the in house staff to do this – but it does seem an awful lot of money to me. I did ask the question today and am awaiting an answer.
My belief is that this is yet another half baked scheme from a bunch of schemers without a decent scheme between them.
About 12-18 months ago people in Goole were asked whether we would like to have resident parking permits for on street parking outside our own homes.
Being knowledgeable of the law, I am aware that on-street parking is a concession and not a right and in legal circles, parking on a public highway is in effect an obstruction. I voted to accept the residential parking permit.
I wasn't happy at the thought of paying even more of my hard earned wages to the County Council just to park on the same street that I live on, feeling that I already was paying quite enough by way of 'Council tax' every year.
I assume that the 'permit parking' scheme was rejected by the majority as nothing else was said about the matter?
This new 'scheme' to upgrade parking charges across the county and implement more 'pay for' parking areas where once-it-was-free, is what we are now to be saddled with should our voices be ignored after these 'road-shows'.
I think the logic behind this is one of pay good money to implement and police the scheme and hope the patronage covers the expense of implementation and policing...
I can't help feeling that if the ERYC were contestants on Sir Alan Sugar's TV show 'The Apprentice' they would have all been fired long ago.
The £220k to be paid for consultants for Car Parking in the East Riding as stated in recent press stories was a little premature to say the least. The £120,000 to consult with residents over controlled parking zones in streets where people may start parking to avoid the charges is certainly wrong, we don’t have these zones and I haven’t been able to find any evidence to say these are needed. Of Course the consultation process may identify Controlled Parking Zones as a way forward, although when one looks at the ‘Dogs Dinner’ that is the CPZ in Howden, I would struggle to support this concept.
The £80k for preparing a business case for Civil Parking Enforcement and £20k to pay someone to write new traffic regulation is again a bit of a red herring. Certainly any changes would require new regulations and changes to existing regulations but I’m assured that if this was the case, the budget is in place to do this.
So a bit of sensationalism and misrepresentation of the facts…. This is an important issue and people have the right to express their views and be consulted. I’m told the attendance at the first two consultation events has not been particularly good, but I hope this will improve.
Nothing has been decided (whatever some people are saying) and will not be until the consultation process is completed – Therefore please let the Council have your views on Car Parking Charges, as this will certainly affect the way that I, and many of my fellow Councillors will vote when the time comes.
Paul, I note that the "Dog's Dinner" has recently had a facelift.
For the first time in it's history the Howden Controlled Parking Zone is now a legal entity where previously it wasn't.
ERYC have been fining people for parking in contravention of a regime that was not legally marked and in law unenforcible because the road markings did not conform to those that MUST be used (as laid down by The Department For Transport).
I wonder ...are there any moves afoot to reimburse people with the fines illegally levied against them? I would imagine that since the CPZ has remained illegally marked since it was first introduced, there will be a fair amount of motorists who have been illegally fined.
A few years ago now Scarborough Council made the same mistake with their CPZ road markings. Unfortunately in their case they stuck a parking ticket onto the windscreen of a retired Police officer that knew the regulations. The result was that the Local Government Ombudsman was involved and heads rolled whilst the LGO made a directive forcing all parking fines to be reimbursed. Would it need to be taken that far before those falling foul of the previously illegally marked CPZ in Howden get their money back I wonder? Perhaps you could ask the question, I'm sure there are a few of your constituents who in the current financial climate, would be glad of having £60 repaid into their bank accounts.
Don't really have objections to moderate fees for parking in busy areas/touristy places, but really, if local businesses are wanting us to use them rather than the big supermarkets and out of town shopping centres, then we want a level playing field - local businesses should subsidise/pay for parking near them, or the big places should charge for parking. Busy people will prefer to park for nothing and get it all under one roof, rather than shop around and keep watching the clock....
The Howden CPZ is merely a result of a BAD/INCOMPETENT decision some years ago. It was decided that Howden did not need a police station and courthouse so the building was closed and the site sold off. Local people tell me the whole package went for a song. After the sale the purchaser then sold off the wood panelling from the courtroom for more than they paid for the whole site. - Just another example of fiscal ineptitude by our lords and masters!
The site is now redevloped as PA but with no on site parking and despite the availability of out of town parking with a staff bus much of the town remains clogged by staff cars. Are the planners living on this same earth as we mortals? Boothferry industrial area would have been a far better location.
Oh and just to cap it all a site had to be found and a new police station built as the town DOES need a police presence after all!
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