Monmouthshire set for another parking charges review (From Free Press Series)

Drivers pay enough to run a car and should not have to pay to park on public
owned car parks.Parking charges drive away shoppers as well.

From the RAC . Not lawful to impose parking charges to raise revenue.

"The power to make charges for parking is defined by law to be for “relieving or preventing congestion of traffic”. There are also more general powers to manage parking for safety and amenity but these do not also permit charging. The law, both in statute and in decisions of cases, is quite clear that local authorities may only impose charges for controlling congestion. They have no power to impose charges in order to raise money for any other purpose."

What has a photograph of Westover Road in Bournemouth got to do with this story???

Woodgnome wrote:
From the RAC . Not lawful to impose parking charges to raise revenue.

"The power to make charges for parking is defined by law to be for “relieving or preventing congestion of traffic”. There are also more general powers to manage parking for safety and amenity but these do not also permit charging. The law, both in statute and in decisions of cases, is quite clear that local authorities may only impose charges for controlling congestion. They have no power to impose charges in order to raise money for any other purpose."

Woodgnome.

You've got your analysis wrong I'm afraid as Road Traffic Legislation allows for reasonable charges, and for any surpluses to be used to: "make good previous deficits and then meet the cost of providing and maintaining off street parking. Furthermore, "if there is no requirement for these then the money can go towards: public transport, highway improvements ans maintenance, environmental improvements.

Magor wrote:
Drivers pay enough to run a car and should not have to pay to park on public
owned car parks.Parking charges drive away shoppers as well.

Magor,

I'm afraid that's too simple an analysis as the shopping offer (I.e what goods you can buy in the town) will largely determine whether or nor you visit the town. Free parking will not drive back shoppers to a town.

decent shops will.

A transport professional wrote:

Woodgnome wrote:
From the RAC . Not lawful to impose parking charges to raise revenue.

"The power to make charges for parking is defined by law to be for “relieving or preventing congestion of traffic”. There are also more general powers to manage parking for safety and amenity but these do not also permit charging. The law, both in statute and in decisions of cases, is quite clear that local authorities may only impose charges for controlling congestion. They have no power to impose charges in order to raise money for any other purpose."

Woodgnome.

You've got your analysis wrong I'm afraid as Road Traffic Legislation allows for reasonable charges, and for any surpluses to be used to: "make good previous deficits and then meet the cost of providing and maintaining off street parking. Furthermore, "if there is no requirement for these then the money can go towards: public transport, highway improvements ans maintenance, environmental improvements.

See this link - not my analysis but the RAC's

http://www.racfounda
tion.org/assets/rac_
foundation/content/d
ownloadables/elliot%
20-%20parking%20enfo
rcement%20-%20main%2
0report%20-%20160820
10.pdf

There will lots of people checking that the Council abides by the rules because most believe these price hikes are just money making exercises that have nothing to do with the matters you mention.

"decent shops will." Not totally - but it helps.

MCC needs to do a quick check of footfall and revenue in Monmouth - and compare it to Magor/Caldicot/Cheps
tow.

Look at the range of shops.

Then look at the amount of free occasional parking.

Why does Monmouth have so much more of both?

Woodgnome wrote:

A transport professional wrote:

Woodgnome wrote:
From the RAC . Not lawful to impose parking charges to raise revenue.

"The power to make charges for parking is defined by law to be for “relieving or preventing congestion of traffic”. There are also more general powers to manage parking for safety and amenity but these do not also permit charging. The law, both in statute and in decisions of cases, is quite clear that local authorities may only impose charges for controlling congestion. They have no power to impose charges in order to raise money for any other purpose."

Woodgnome.

You've got your analysis wrong I'm afraid as Road Traffic Legislation allows for reasonable charges, and for any surpluses to be used to: "make good previous deficits and then meet the cost of providing and maintaining off street parking. Furthermore, "if there is no requirement for these then the money can go towards: public transport, highway improvements ans maintenance, environmental improvements.

See this link - not my analysis but the RAC's

http://www.racfounda

tion.org/assets/rac_

foundation/content/d

ownloadables/elliot%

20-%20parking%20enfo

rcement%20-%20main%2

0report%20-%20160820

10.pdf

There will lots of people checking that the Council abides by the rules because most believe these price hikes are just money making exercises that have nothing to do with the matters you mention.

Woodgnome

The same report by the RAC states

"The local authority has pay for administering the parking schemes in its area but it may keep the money raised from parking charges including the penalty charges for infringing parking restrictions. If the amount raised exceeds the cost of administration of the current or previous years, the local authority may either roll the surplus forward to cover the costs of future parking controls or it may use the surplus for approved purposes, which are in summary: contributing to the cost of off-street parking where it appears to the local authority that there is sufficient off-street parking:
contributing to public passenger transport services, road improvements, environmental improvements and, for some local authorities, any other lawful activity"

The regulations are open to interpretation, but i would ask you if you didnt have charges in a public car park, out of whose budget would you expect people to pay for any upkeep of a car park in say Monmouthshire.

Residents of Monmouthshire via their council tax, or people visiting the county from outside?

Transport prof - Motorists are already taxed more than anywhere else in Europe. Car parking charges are for the upkeep of car parks and highway/transportati
on matters - not to subsidise other functions of the Council or line the coffers of the Council. That's why it's highly unlikely car parking charges need to be hiked unless there is a very clear need for relevant matters - what are they, we should be told?

What the public wont tolerate is hiking the charges as a smokescreen to pay for other things that the rules don't allow. You can't put up charges because it seems a good idea...

hopefully these carparks will be boycotted the loss of revenue then causing the Council to reconsider.