Issue - meetings

To receive an update on analysis of parking issues in Ashford town centre and enforcement work.

The Committee considered a report on parking issues in Ashford town centre.  A study by an independent consultant concluded that:

·         The town centre is popular and busy with few vacancies

·         Surveys have shown that around 44% of shoppers travel to Ashford by car and so other modes of transport are important

·         Most of the existing parking use was for short durations of less than 2 hours

·         There was considerable spare parking, excluding the railway station and Tesco car park

·         The multi-storey car park was very poorly used

·         Evidence of lack of enforcement of restriction on parking length of stay

·         Improvements to the landscaping design could create more on-street parking

A three month enforcement exercise to understand underlying parking issues in the area had proved useful and positive feedback was received, particularly from local businesses.  A further 3 month enforcement exercise will start in March 2019 to provide us with further data, the results of which will be used with the information gained from the initial exercise and the independent parking study to identify improvements needed to parking provision in Ashford town centre.

There was discussion about how to engage with local businesses using spaces for employees and visitors who outstayed their allotted time, using different approaches but making them aware of the benefits to Ashford from an environmental and parking perspective.

It was reported that at a recent Economic Development Group businesses in Ashford had expressed concern about parking issues and charges.  The Group Head of Neighbourhood Services gave the background to historic parking charges at the multi-storey car park for local businesses which had been increased but were still very cheap in comparison to the standard charges.

A suggestion of using a clock face card to display in car windows was suggested however this would require significant manpower.  An alternative of on-street parking with a machine allowing the first hour free would need to be initiated by the County Council.

The possibility of changing slip road parking in the main street to a no parking zone area had not been considered at this stage, due to the huge cost involved.

Resolved to note the report and the additional enforcement exercise for Ashford town centre.