ITEM 6

City Management and Transport

Policy & Scrutiny
Committee Report
Date: 8 June 2010

Subject: Parking Policy Review 2010/11

Summary

The City Council manages the largest parking service in the UK and it is vital that
the main on-street parking policies are regularly reviewed to ensure that current
and future demands on kerbside parking, loading and waiting are managed in a
safe and equitable manner.

A major review of on-street parking policy was undertaken in September 2001

when today’s six zone Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) and its eight sub-zones A
to H were significantly amended to meet user and kerbside management
demands of that time.

This report:

• Advises Committee about the necessary process for the City Council to
undertake the Parking Policy Review 2010/11 that should lead to the
implementation of a delivery programme on the streets in 2011/12 and beyond;

• Central to the proposed Parking Policy Review 2010/11 will be the undertaking
of a high profile Autumn 2010 Stage 1 Consultation Programme where
residents, local businesses and all interested stakeholders will be invited to
inform the City Council about their main needs of the Parking Service and to
determine potential solutions of how these should be prioritised and
addressed;

• Subject to the outcome of the Stage 1 Consultation process, Officers will then
draw up a distinct and prioritised order of Parking Policy Options for a Stage 2
Consultation in the Spring 2011 period ; that will finally

• Identify what new policy options and projects should be developed for
implementation in 2011/12 and beyond.
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Recommendations

It is recommended that the views of Committee are sought on the following:

The proposed five stage process of the Parking Policy Review 2010/11;

• Consideration is made to possible questions for inclusion in a Stage 1

Consultation, see paragraph 6.4; and finally

• That a informal City Management Policy and Scrutiny Task Group be

established and three participant Members be nominated by the Committee.
The Task Group findings to be reported to the Committee.
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Committee Report
City of Westminster

Item No: 6

Date: 8 June 2009

Classification: For general release

Title of Report: Parking Policy Review 2010/11

Report of: Leith Penny, Strategic Director City Management

Rosemarie MacQueen, Strategic Director Built
Environment
Martin Low, City Commissioner of Transportation

Wards involved: All

Policy context: Local Implementation Plan 2005/06 to 2010/11 -

Chapter 7 Parking and Enforcement Plan

Unitary Development Plan (UDP) January 2007 -

Policy TRANS 1 Protecting the Environment from the
effects of transport activities

Living City March 2010 – Pledge 2 Revitalising

Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus and Pledge 3
Improving our streets (Neat Streets)

Financial summary: Financial considerations will relate to the Parking

Policy Review 2010/11. These will be identified when
the proposals are developed in greater detail.
The proposed Consultation Programmes 1 and 2 are
estimated to cost £100,000 in 2010/11 and funding
will be sought from internal parking service and Local
Implementation Plan 2010/11 (LIP) funding streams.

Report Author: Hugh Brennan, Principal Transport Planner

020 7641 2936 or hbrennan@westminster.gov.uk

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1. Introduction

1.1 It is believed that the City Council is responsible for the largest parking service in
the UK. In terms of parking provision The City of Westminster is formally split into
six Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs), please see Appendix. The A-H sub zones
exist for Parking service administration reasons only and these relate to varying
conditions and tariffs in respect to local needs within each of the six zone CPZ.

1.2 The City Council’s parking service is responsible for the provision and
management of the on-street and off-street parking facilities and the enforcement of
on-street parking controls across the City of Westminster, including certain marked
bays on the Mayor of London’s Transport for London Road Network (TLRN). The
on-street service comprises the installation and maintenance of lines, signs,
remaining pay and display machines, cashless pay by phone parking, the patrolling
of the streets and the enforcement of parking regulations through the issue of
penalty charge notices (PCNs).

2. Why parking controls are needed

2.1 Opponents of parking enforcement sometimes question why parking controls are
needed. Parking regulations are necessary to ensure:

• That the City Council fully adheres to the Network Management Duty placed on
it through the Traffic Management Act 2004 which is to ensure the safe and
expeditious movement of traffic, including pedestrians;
• A well managed highway network that guarantees access for emergency
vehicles, bus services and for other essential services such as refuse
collection, post office delivery vehicles etc;
• That fair and robustly managed on-street parking controls are well
established and ensure a fair and equitable provision of kerb side parking, waiting
and loading space for residents, visitors and businesses near to their homes, offices,
places of culture and shops etc; and
• That regulated parking control safeguards designated sections of
roadspace and kerbspace for uses other than car parking such as pedestrian,
cycle, bus priority, traffic management and road safety schemes that are often
compromised by illegally parked and waiting vehicles, at all times of day and
night; and finally
• That the traffic restraint policies in the Unitary Development Plan are adhered to.

2.2 Without such parking controls, traffic management and parking chaos on
Westminster’s 1,990 streets would prevail where road safety, the movement of
vehicles, vehicle emissions and road traffic noise, blocked driveways and double
parking would all be exacerbated to unacceptable levels.

3.0 Parking provision – the period 2001 to 2010 in context

3.1 Since the combined CPZ zone was last significantly amended in 2001, the City
Council’s parking service has been at the forefront of innovation and development
through the successful delivery and management of many improvements, including:
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•The introduction of Cashless Pay by Phone parking;

•Fixed and Mobile CCTV enforcement of certain moving traffic offences;
•Increased motorcycle parking provision where charging has been introduced;
•The Westminster Car Club scheme;
•The provision of electric vehicle parking;
•Innovative charging schemes at its 15 off-street car parks; and
•much more.

3.2 Nonetheless, save minor revisions to the CPZ sub zone boundaries and the
necessary annual reviews of charging rates, the regime is more suited to the
pressures of 2001 rather than the much changed road management, population
density and development demands of 2010 and beyond. It is now therefore
necessary to review the City Council’s main parking polices to ensure that the
service is more than capable to address the pressures that prevail on the streets of
today and beyond.

4. A particular area of concern - the West End at night

4.1 As advised above, in recent years the City Council’s Parking Service has
introduced a range of successful and innovative parking schemes onto the street.
Beyond such recent achievement, the City Council in partnership with Transport for
London and other stakeholders increasingly needs to look forward and develop
many further innovative transportation and parking solutions for 2010 and beyond
to ensure that:

• Scarce carriageway, footway and kerb space is used efficiently to its maximum
for all users; and
• That the more sustainable alternative transport solutions to the private car and
the more innovative sort of car parking schemes are afforded more priority.

4.2 These solutions relate closely to the six main objectives of the recently published
Mayor’s Transport Strategy, May 10 2010, which seek to readdress the pressures
prevalent on the increasingly congested and heavily parked streets of central
London in which the private car has often taken an inequitable share of permanent
kerb space. For example, the charge free unregulated parking of cars throughout
the evening on the streets of central London has often thwarted the roll out
implementation of evolving projects that include:

• Electric charging point bays;

• Electric vehicle parking bays;
• London Cycle Hire docking stations;
• Better regulated bus stop clearways and bus priority measures;
• Better regulated cycle routes;
• Evening coach parking bays, especially in Theatreland;
• Westminster Car Club bays; and
• The increasing need to protect and evolve the public realm street design of
central London from high levels and prolonged parking of cars throughout the
evening and night time hours; and
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• The desire to have lesser congested streets before, during and after the 2012
Olympic and Paralympics games period.

4.3 Clearly available kerbspace in the West End is intensely scarce and that parking
provision in that area has been entrenched for many years, so it is anticipated that
the Stage 1 Consultation Programme may identify a demand for change in future
years such as amended controls, less congested streets at night, revised loading
and waiting conditions that better suit local businesses etc

5. Proposed Parking Policy Review 2010/11 – the scope

5.1 The proposed scope of the Parking Policy Review 2010/11 will be subject to
amendment , though at the present time it is as follows:

•The suitability of the current CPZ in respect to the transport, economic and
environmental demands of 2010 and beyond;
•The suitability of the range of controlled hours within the CPZ in respect to the
lifestyle needs of 2010 and beyond, especially in respect to evening/night and
weekend controls;
•The range of permits, concessions;
•The range of environmental concessions;
•The changed needs of different mode users of 2010 and beyond, such as the
loading and waiting requirements of local businesses, tour bus stands,
Motorcycle parking, Carers parking, Visitor parking etc

5.2 The above scope will be subject to amendment as the needs of the review mature,
so Members are advised that it will be liable to change.

5.3 It is not the intention that this policy review should investigate proposed fiscal tariff
changes which will remain subject to the normal arrangements and considerations
which apply to the review of parking charges.

6. Proposed Parking Policy Review 2010/11 – the process

6.1 The Parking Policy Review 2010/11 will be subject to continued guidance from the
Cabinet Member for Parking and Transportation, this Committee and Senior
Management.

6.2 The current proposed process of the Parking Policy Review 2010/11 is advised as
follows:

• Summer 2010
To map out the Stage 1 Consultation Programme in liason with the Cabinet
Member for Parking and Transportation and the proposed Task Group of this
Committee

• Autumn 2010
To undertake the Stage 1 Consultation Programme
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See below

• Winter 2010
Evaluate the findings of the Stage 1 Consultation Programme and identify
Parking Policy Options for consideration by this Committee that will then be
translated into a series of recommended policy options for formal consideration
by the Cabinet Member for Parking and Transportation.

• Spring 2011
To undertake Stage 2 Consultation Programme of Parking Policy Options

• Late Spring 2011

To submit a Cabinet Member Report to the Cabinet Member for Parking and
Transportation that will seek approval of a distinct set of Parking Policy
Options for implementation on the streets in 2011/12 and onwards

7. Stage 1 Consultation Programme

7.1 As highlighted above and subject to resources, it is proposed that the the Stage 1
Consultation Programme will be undertaken in the Autumn period of this year
(September - October). This will become the foundation of the whole Parking Policy
Review process and it is anticipated that it will enable the City Council to greater
understand the future needs of of the residents, visitors, and business users of the
Parking Service. Furthermore the Stage 1 Consultation will ensure that the City
Council comprehends what demand there is for the new and evolving services that
it provides such as the Westminster Car Club scheme, Electric Charging parking
bays, Shared Use parking provision, enhanced loading and waiting provision, the
need to extend the hours of control in selected areas of high parking stress etc

7.2 At this early stage of the Parking Policy Review 2010/11 the proposed Stage 1 and
Stage 2 consultation programmes have yet to be established, but in the meantime
Member’s views are sought on the following likely elements of such a campaign:

• A dedicated and interactive City Council web page that features a comments box
facility;
• A prominent news and questionnaire item proposed for inclusion in the
Westminster Reporter magazine that is distributed to all households and most
businesses across the City of Westminster. This will be subject to editorial
approval for inclusion and content;
• A leaflet and attached questionnaire form be produced for distribution to all
libraries, One Stop shops and other City Council establishments. This will be
subject to Communications Department approval; and finally
• Representation by officers at future Westminster Area Forum’s Surgery Times.

7.3 It may transpire that certain stakeholder groups that have particular strong concerns
about parking will be engaged with directly. If this sort of need arises, Officers will
meet such organisations and report back to the Cabinet Member and this
Committee where appropriate. Such organisations could include Residents
Associations with Interests in parking stress experienced in the St John’s Wood and
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Greater Victoria areas etc; the West End Theatre Industry, the Casino industry; The
restaurant trade; TfL London Buses etc

7.4 The questions for inclusion in a Stage 1 Consultation have to be carefully framed to
ensure that the needs of drivers and the wider community are clearly captured
rather than opening up the exercise to a free-for-all opportunity. Possible questions
could be as follows:

• What services and facilities do users of the City of Westminster Parking Service
value?

• What difficulties are experienced, if any?

• What times of the day and/ or week are such difficulties especially
experienced?

• Is the current range of parking permits available to defined users considered to

be appropriate, such as resident parking permits, Doctor Bays etc?

• If you are a Residential Permit Holder, do you experience difficulties of finding a

space in a resident’s parking bay at night. If so, in which Parking Zone?

• If you visit an area in the City of Westminster, do you experience difficulties in

finding an available paid for visitor parking bay, permitted out of hours resident
bay etc. If so, which Parking Zone and at what times?

• Do you consider that a greater provision should be made for the provision of:
more electric charging bays – yes/no?
More car club bays – yes/no?
Cycle Hire docking stations – yes/no?

• Is it appropriate that the above three proposals are provided through a marginal
loss of conventional on-street parking/ or not?

• Do you consider the range of tariffs and charges to be appropriate?

7.5 It is acknowledged that these proposed questions are at a preliminary stage,

however the views of this Committee would be an invaluable source of feedback to
the process. Officers are also seeking advice and input from colleagues from the
Communications Department given their recent experience in managing the City
Council’s ‘City Survey’ consultation exercise.

8. Financial Implications

8.1 There will be far reaching financial implications that relate to the Parking Policy
Review 2010/11. However at this early stage it is not possible to quantify the
financial implications of what policy options may or may not be developed.
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8.2 If the proposed Stage 1 and Stage 2 Consultation Programmes receive Cabinet
Member approval, it is advised that their combined estimated cost will be £100,000
and this will have to be funded from internal parking service and Local
Implementation Plan (LIP) resources.

9. Legal Implications

9.1 In respect to the legal implications applicable to the City Council’s responsibility to
review its parking policy parking policy, the following is advised.

9.2 Section 122 of the Road Traffic regulation Act 1984 sets out the considerations
which must be taken into account by the Council in exercising its powers under the
Act, including in relation to parking. S.122 states as follows:.

.122. Exercise of functions by local authorities.

(1) It shall be the duty of every local authority upon whom functions are conferred
by or under this Act, so to exercise the functions conferred on them by this Act as
(so far as practicable having regard to the matters specified in subsection (2)
below) to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of vehicular and
other traffic (including pedestrians) and the provision of suitable and adequate
parking facilities on and off the highway or, in Scotland the road

(2) The matters referred to in subsection (1) above as being specified in this subsection
are—

(a) the desirability of securing and maintaining reasonable access to premises;

(b) the effect on the amenities of any locality affected and (without prejudice to
the generality of this paragraph) the importance of regulating and restricting the
use of roads by heavy commercial vehicles, so as to preserve or improve the
amenities of the areas through which the roads run;

(bb) the strategy prepared under section 80 of the Environment Act 1995 (national
air quality strategy);

(c) the importance of facilitating the passage of public service vehicles and of
securing the safety and convenience of persons using or desiring to use such
vehicles; and

(d) any other matters appearing to the local authority to be relevant.

9.3 The provisions of S.122 were considered in the leading case of Cran - v- London
Borough of Camden, in which residents of Hampstead challenged the making of
their area into a controlled parking zone. Even though SA.122(2)(d) allows a local
authority to take into account any other matters appearing to it to be relevant, the
High Court was very clear that this did not allow the Council in setting the charges
for parking to take account of extraneous financial matters such as the aim of
generating income for other Council projects, however worthy such projects might
be. As long as the Cran case remains the law, Westminster therefore cannot set or
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increase its charges with the motive of generating income, though the generation of
income is legitimate if it is merely incidental to the setting of charges for other
reasons such as traffic restraint.

10. Recommendations

10.1 It is recommended that the views of Committee are sought on the following:

• The proposed five stage process of the Parking Policy Review 2010/11;
• Consideration is made to the possible questions for inclusion in a Stage 1
Consultation, see paragraph 6.4; and finally
• That a informal City Management Policy and Scrutiny Task Group be established
and three participant Members be nominated by the Committee. The Task Group
findings to be reported to the Committee.

11. Appendices

Appendix 1 Plan of City of Westminster Controlled Parking Zones (CPZ)

Appendix 2 Table of City of Westminster parking charges

If you have any queries about this report or wish to inspect one of the background
papers please contact Hugh Brennan on 020 7641 2936, email
hbrennan@westminster.gov.uk