An e-mail to Steve Holdaway, Powys County Council officer responsible for Transport Management and Policy.
Dear Mr Holdaway
I hope you will recall my e-mail to you of 28th April, which addressed a number of points you made in your email to me of the previous day which it turn replied to mine of 21st April regarding my and other residents’ and traders’ concerns over the council’s enforcement plans for taking over of traffic enforcement responsibilities from Dyfed Powys Police.
I list below the two enclosures I forwarded to you and highlight some of the questions to which, in your email to me of 5th May, you promised to respond.
ATTACHMENT 1.
I would be most grateful if you would kindly address the comments I have made regarding the content of your email.
I quote “Firstly I should like to point out that other than Powys CC being given powers to enforce existing on street parking restrictions nothing has changed. Indeed the Traffic Regulation orders governing parking are exactly the same as those that were in force prior to 1 April.”
You will note that on 7th April, as a local ratepayer, I tried without success to secure a map from Powys County Council of the Restricted Parking Zones in Hay, together with the Traffic Regulation Orders appropriate to those zones. On 8th April I submitted a Freedom of Information request for that information to Powys Information Management.
Your email continues: “Whether the Police enforced, or not, is a moot point.”
Why moot? Surely the police enforced traffic law, as with other minor offences, with responsibility and as and when they deemed it appropriate in mind of the circumstances. The inference of this point is a refutation of your statement that ‘nothing has changed’; even if the ‘Traffic Regulation orders governing parking remain unchanged’, your policy statements imply their execution certainly will.
You go on to say “However I can assure you the Council has received many complaints about a lack of enforcement”. I am entirely confident you keep records and would appreciate your quantifying these complaints. How many, over what period and without breaching confidentiality, from whom? On the other hand, how many complaints about the scheme have you received since taking over the new responsibilities?
You continue “and it is anticipated that the new arrangements will simplify matters, clarify responsibilities and reduce waste between the two organisations." It would be helpful to know how the new arrangements will simplify matters or clarify responsibilities.
My understanding is that up to April 1st off-street parking was the responsibility of the County Council and on-street parking the responsibility of the police.
Under the new regime, the council will be responsible for both off and on-street parking, except dangerous parking and obstruction which remain a police responsibility; the Wales Penalty Processing Partnership will be responsible for processing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), Notices to Owners (NtOs) and Charge Certificates; and appeals will be the responsibility of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Is this new process either simpler or clearer?
I would also appreciate knowing what ‘waste’ there was ‘between the two organisations’.
You state ”The resources available for enforcement are slightly less and these are required to patrol both on and off street parking areas.” Again, would you please quantify this statement.
“Whilst I accept there is potential to generate extra income this is modest (as RTA indicated) and the reality is that costs of the Civil Enforcement Officers will be covered by both on & off street revenues.”
Two things arise from this statement. First, your claim that extra income potential is ‘modest’ is at variance with the statement made on the council website that income from off-street parking ‘generate(s) much needed revenue funds for other municipal services such as street cleaning’. Peter Lowe, of RTA Associates Ltd, advising councils on the change-over, made it clear at a County Council meeting on March 9 that the scheme “would give the council a surplus of £20,000 per annum”.
Second, the paradox of your confident assertion that the extra income derived from Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) will be sufficient not only to cover costs but provide a surplus, requires that for it to work, the new scheme must fail in its stated purpose of encouraging compliance with on-street parking regulations.
Can you therefore please provide figures for actual and projected revenues from off-street parking, the envisaged total annual costs of the new Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) including its administration and projected revenues from on-street PCNs. From these figures we shall be able to see how the £20,000 promised surplus has been calculated. (I confess to being confused regarding conflicting claims on your website of their being 35 or 37 pay and display car parks in Powys with either 4355 or 4450 places – which is correct?)
I must presume these figures can be extrapolated from those referred to as ‘Appendix B - Financial Assessment’ in the minutes prepared for the Powys County Council meeting held on 27 July 2010, which allowed your department and Mr Peter Lowe of RTA Associates Ltd (consultants to the council on the change-over) to make the assertions of a surplus that you have
You conclude by saying ”Plainly the council is sensitive to the public's concerns and that is why we will review parking, in the round, as we learn from our experience over the next year. It is also anticipated that the extra revenues generated from the initiative will enable the council to reinstate the promotion of Traffic Regulation Orders, currently there is a moratorium, and this will help us to ensure new and amended regulations are appropriate for the wider community of Powys.’ Whilst I am pleased to note that you believe you shall ‘learn from our (your) experience over the next year', we the public, residents and traders in Powys shall quite obviously be subjected during that year to be the source of cash sufficient to pay for that change.
ATTACHMENT 2.
From the minutes prepared for the Powys County Council meeting held on 27 July 2010 to discuss Cllr. Geraint Hopkins proposals for the ‘Adoption of Civil Parking Enforcement’ (B244-2010), could you please explain the statement “It is proposed to use the £50/£70 Penalty Charge level in all areas and this will permit the Council to make the necessary financial balance to justify this application.”
From the same document, was ‘formal confirmation of the state of TROs, signs, lines and road markings’ made six weeks prior to the CPE commencement date?
How is this parking enforcement designed to contribute to “achieving a reduction in overall traffic’, ‘increase use of more sustainable and healthy forms of travel’ and ‘provide a more effective and efficient transport system’ whilst ‘taking into account the economic vitality of centres and local objectives’? Surely if the council’s agenda is to discourage car ownership and usage amongst the urban community, then this should be clearly stated and admitted as policy.
How is it planned CPE will ‘prioritise the parking needs of … local residents, businesses and their customers’ or ‘ensure’ that ‘the impact on surrounding residential areas’ is ‘minimised’?
The document claims that ‘Managing the availability and pricing of parking is one of the ways of controlling or restraining car use’. Surely if as you claim ‘parking policies are relatively easy to introduce’ , they are surely also relatively easy to amend or be ‘modified to reflect changing situations.’
It is noted that ‘there may be conflict between policies for parking and those for economic regeneration, traffic restraints or revenue generation.’ How is such conflict to be addressed?
I am encouraged to note the Authority’s commitment to ‘develop a robust and fair policy’ and to ‘reconcile conflicting demands for the use of kerb space in residential areas’. The document continues ‘The aim will be to prioritise the parking needs of residents where these are, or are likely to be, affected by non-residential parking.’ and culminates in a promise to ‘develop’ an ‘assessment of residents’ schemes…’ Can you please explain how the introduction of the CPE scheme will meet these promises?
I must conclude by requesting you answer several questions arising out of my discussions with fellow residents and traders in Hay, or statements made on the Powys County Council website.
It was promised that ‘a list of contraventions’ would be available on your website. It is not as yet; when can it be expected?
Phil Jackson, (Transportation and Development Control Manager, Powys County Council) stated when presenting the scheme with Peter Lowe that enforcement ‘will not necessarily be draconian’. Could you please elaborate on this statement, I asked both Peter Lewis, Car Parks Manager, Brecon and Lee Evans, Council Communications Officer, how parking restrictions, specifically those pertaining to time restricted parking were to be enforced, but neither could give me any answer
Despite the statement made on the County Council website (18.03.11) that “posters will go on display across the county” and that “Posters will be displayed in shops across the county and in the council’s leisure centres, libraries and customer service points and information leaflets available informing residents and drivers that the council will be taking on the enforcement responsibilities from Friday 1 April”; the first many Hay-on-Wye residents and traders became aware of the Council’s intention to “enforce on-street parking in the county”, were notices produced by the town council displayed around the town announcing a meeting to discuss the new proposals on 24th March at Hay Junior School.
The distribution and display of the much vaunted council posters announcing the new parking regime were limited in Hay to one copy posted on the internal notice board, at the council office in the town. No posters were sent to Hay library for reference or display, or distributed to shops for public information. Do you regard this as adequate public consultation or announcement?
In mind of property developments in recent years, specifically in Hay-on-Wye, what Section 106 contributions have been secured from developers to mitigate the harm caused by increases in population and car ownership, and how has that money been spent?
Whilst my concern is primarily with Hay-on-Wye, I am confident that the new enforcement regime is causing as much concern in other towns in Powys. A properly researched study must be conducted immediately into the needs of local communities, and after proper public consultation, policies adopted to reflect current parking needs and anomalies. Available parking in Hay-on-Wye for both residents and what is hoped will be an increasing number of visitors, eager to spend money with local businesses, is already under considerable pressure, likely to be exacerbated by the introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement. The annual May Fair, the horse and pony fair and the phenomenally successful International Hay Literary Festival are all occasions when an already inadequate town centre car park is stretched to over capacity. Car ownership is a fact of twenty first century life, particularly important in a semi isolated rural area such as this. Other than during the Festival when extra car parking is provided, where else in the town are visitors and residents supposed to park?
Surely failure to address the parking problems of the town now, will result in a falling off of the Hay-on-Wye’s popularity with visitors.
On 11th May, I again e-mailed you and whilst one of my questions was concerned specifically with the Hay Festival which at that time was a fortnight away, the email requested responses and I therefore addend it here with questions highlighted:
Dear Mr Holdaway
I write to you, as Powys County Council officer responsible for Transport Management and Policy, and Car Parks, in the hope you will be able to provide some practical advice. I have copied this email to Cllr. Geraint Hopkins, Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport and Jeremy Patterson CEO of Powys County Council.
I hope you are aware of the Campaign for a Responsible Approach to Parking (CRAP) we have started in Hay and which has received support from residents, traders and politicians throughout Powys.
We have also started a petition www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/crap asking to bring forward preparatory work on a county wide review of traffic management and residents’ parking schemes to September 2011 so that the full review can be completed before the Council elections and when the current moratorium on spending ends in April 2012.
At the same time, we have started a blog http://crap-powys.blogspot.com as a forum for residents, traders and visitors to Powys to air their views about the contentious issue of parking. This email and your answer, along with other correspondence will appear on that blog.
On Monday evening I attended a meeting of Hay Town Council as parking was to be one of the subjects discussed. Two matters arose regarding your area of responsibility and I am sure your response to them will be of interest to residents
First, Dyfed-Powys’ community police officer revealed that there remains some confusion about the division of different parking infringements and offences between the council and the police. It seems that whilst the police have surrendered most of their responsibilities, some remain and it seems that enquiries to both the police and the council have been given conflicting information. It would be very helpful to know the exact parameters of the different areas of responsibility.
Second, a number of councillors expressed considerable concern about the effect of the council’s new parking enforcement powers during the Hay Festival. In past years police have tolerated residents parking in restricted waiting zones, provided they cause no obstruction or nuisance. Should the council enforce current parking restrictions, considerable trouble and cost will be caused to those who live in streets where time restricted parking applies. If all affected residents park in the town centre car park, it will result in a loss of some fifty places in what is an already overcrowded facility. There are already insufficient unrestricted parking spaces in Hay and the police policy of enforcing additional coned no parking in the area will exacerbate an already difficult situation.
Would it be useful for us to print a number of stickers identifying cars belonging to local residents in the hope that CEOs will exercise some discretion; or if this is not an option, what practical advice can you give that we can pass on to the residents of Hay who are likely to be affected during the period of the festival?
On 15th May, having received a copy of Powys County Council Prohibition ands Restriction of Waiting and Loading and Parking Places Civil Enforcement and Consolidation Order 2011, forwarded to me in error subsequent to my Freedom of Information Application F-2011-00220, in line with the conditions outlined in that order, I e-mailed you requesting an application form for a Residents’ Parking Permit as below:
Dear Mr Holdaway
Please be kind enough to forward to me at this address a Resident’s Parking Permit application form as determined under Section 4 item 80. of the (Prohibition and Restriction of Waiting and Loading and Parking Places) (Civil Enforcement and Consolidation) Order 2011 which came into force on April 1st 2011 and revoked all Orders or Schedules or Plans made prior to this Order.
I am a Resident who is the owner of a vehicle of the class specified and therefore apply to the Council for the issue of a Parking Permit in respect of that vehicle. I understand that any such application shall be made on a form issued by and obtainable from the Council and shall include the particulars and information required by such form to be supplied.
Yours truly,
To date, I have received neither an acknowledgement of my application or the document requested.
Whilst I appreciate how onerous it must be, to be constrained by law to respond to requests for information from the public, I believe that there are specific timescales within which a response should be provided. I understand that the required response should either address the questions asked or at least provide an acknowledgement of receipt and an estimate of the time required to provide full answers.
I have received neither, and whilst I believe I am able to apply for a response through the ombudsman service, I am loather to follow that route without first offering you the opportunity of addressing my questions.
I look forward to hearing from you.
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