Hay-on-Wye Cattle Market - a new car park for the town?

email to Phil Jackson Powys County Council - Transportation and Development Manager

Dear Mr Jackson

I am very pleased to see that the agenda for the Powys County Council Cabinet meeting on 26th Fabruary includes Resident's Parking as Item 8 C49 - 2013.

We in the community are looking forward to the proposals and plans we submitted to you in Summer last year, an updated copy of which we gave you and discussed at our meeting at Llandrindod with Councillor Ratcliffe and members of Hay Town Council on 6th February, being used as a basis for your final plans for the town.

Needless to say we are extremely keen to be involved in any plans for adapted or new restricted parking zones in Hay and hope you will take the opportunity of discussing your proposals with us.

I remain very concerned about one vital aspect of the plan we prepared - that is the opportunity of using the car par area of Hay cattle market as shared Pay and Display and Residents' Parking in the periods when it is not in use for the cattle market.  This is important if our parking proposals are to work properly but is dependent upon it being incorporated in any new lease or renewal being granted for cattle market.

Has any new lease or licence been granted for the market and if not, can we be assured that the potential for incorporation of a parking facility in the market will be part of that lease or agreement?   If a new lease or licence has already been granted, we must ask the same question!

I have forwarded this email to Councillors Gareth Ratcliffe, David Jones, Barry Thomas and Garry Banks for any comments they may have as well as published it on our blog crap-powys.blogspot.com.  Obviously your response and any received from councillors will similarly be published.

Best wishes

Campaign for a Realistic Approach to Parking

We're Almost There

It's now in the public domain.  
This is the link for the Powys County Council website and the Agenda for the Cabinet meeting on 26th Fabruary 2013 
 http://www.powys.gov.uk/ag_2013-02-26c1_en.pdf?id=47&L=0

Council cabinet
approval is hopefully the last hurdle to overcome before a new parking policy
is introduced for Hay-on-Wye.

Agenda Item : 

RESIDENTS' PARKING
POLICY C49 - 2013

To consider a report
by County Councillor W.B. Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Highways.

It only now remains to
ensure that no new lease or renewal is granted for the cattle market car park
which it is hoped will provide extra parking both for residents and visitors in
the town.   We are writing to Councillors Barry Thomas and Garry Banks to
secure their promises that nothing will be done without full discussion with
the community. 

Our email to them and
their replies will be published on CRAP-Powys.blogspot.com and forwarded to our
mailing list. 

Best wishes - and
fingers crossed

Campaign for a
Realistic Approach to Parking

               An empty Car Park!  

               It doesn't happen often

RESIDENTS’ PARKING IN HAY-ON-WYE !

Hay-on-Wye ward Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe’s letter to Powys Chief Executive, Jeremy Patterson

In December 2012, Councillor Ratcliffe wrote to Jeremy Patterson complaining that insufficient preparation was being made by the council for the shortly forthcoming lifting of the moratorium of the review of parking restrictions, traffic management and off street parking originally passed by Powys County Council in July 2011and reaffirmed by the present administration.

Councillor Ratcliffe contended that in the continuing absence of the provision of residents’ parking, considerable ill will and anger was being generated towards the council by Parking Wardens ticketing cars in Hay-on-Wye from 8:30 in the morning when most cars booked belonged to residents.

Councillor Ratcliffe believed the council have still not made any progress on the issue and whilst he accepted they have agreed to lift the moratorium in April, he felt that unless proper preparations were made for the review residents and traders, already feeling the pressure of the economic downturn, could be kept waiting for a further 12 months before anything will be resolved.

The Chief Executive was asked to investigate why no progress had been made to prepare the community for the prospective changes and whether he supported the introduction of this change of policy which Cllr Ratcliffe believed would enjoy the support of the local community.

The email concluded with Councillor Ratcliffe’s reiteration of his frustration at the council’s inaction but he believed that the Hay community he represented would be happy to work with the council on a residents’ parking policy and would welcome the opportunity for Hay-on-Wye to be used as a trial for a county wide scheme.

Jeremy Patterson’s reply to Cllr. Gareth Ratcliffe dated 15^th January 2013

Dear Councillor Ratcliffe,

Thank you for your letter received on 17^th December 2012 concerning car parking in Hay-on-Wye.  I understand you have now met with Steve Holdaway and agreed the following:

• regular liaison with the Town Council on parking enforcement
• the trialling of residents parking in the town to commence next fiscal year

As you might appreciate the lifting of the moratorium on Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) was only agreed by Cabinet in September, but suspect the funds will be made available through the budget process for 2013/14.  This will enable implementation of new policies such as residents parking which are currently being developed.

Whilst I appreciate your community’s frustrations over the apparent delay in moving car parking issues forward, it is regrettable that the lack of approved funding would have prevented implementation of any new TRO’s as a result of policy changes.  Indeed, the allocation of extra funds to lift the moratorium was not supported through the 2012/13 budget setting round.  I therefore don’t believe officers have deliberately ignored recommendations but rather haven’t had the wherewithal to implement new policies.

That said I am confident this has now been addressed for the new fiscal year.

I am also aware that your community’s residents’ parking proposals have been taken into account as part of previous consultations with Community and Town Councils and that it is intended to liaise with you again, and The Mayor of Hay-on-Wye, to gain community support to introduce any new arrangements in the town.

Regarding ongoing frustration over enforcement in the Town, I know you have discussed this with Steve Holdaway and I expect that the agreed way forward will help to eliminate these tensions, until such time as a residents parking policy is introduced in the Town.

I hope this has gone some way to address your concerns over this matter.

Yours sincerely

Jeremy Patterson

Chief Executive

15^th January 2013 Update

Hay-on-Wye Town Council are meeting with the Powys County Council portfolio holder Cllr. Barry Thomas and Phil Jackson, Powys County Council Parking Officer to discuss the possibility of residents parking in the town.

A representative of Powys County Council is scheduled to meet next week with Powys County Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe and Hay Town Councillor Alan Powell to discuss the impact of the activity of traffic wardens on the town

  

NOTE

14^th July 2012 - NOTICE OF MOTION CC84 – 2011

The motion proposed by County Councillor G.W. Ratcliffe and seconded by County Councillor C.E. Powell.

That from September 2011 this Council will start to work on the feasibility of a residents' parking policy with the assistance of the scrutiny committee. Also a review of parking restrictions, traffic management and off street parking with consultation with key stake holders such as Town and Community Councils and Chambers of Trade so when the moratorium is expected to be lifted in April 2012 and the Council will be able to move forward from this earlier point in 2012.

The motion was resolved

The exorbitant parking charges killing our small town centres

From The Daily Telegraph  Saturday 12th January 2013

By Christopher Hope

Senior Political Correspondent

EXORBITANT parking charges are threatening high street shops in small towns, a study suggests. Smaller town centres charge more for parking than larger retail loca­tions, meaning that they attract fewer shoppers, the research found.

Off-street parking tariffs in 90 towns and cities were surveyed based, on footfall, spending and centre quality by the Association of Town & City Management and the British Parking Association. Some mid-sized and smaller town centres "may be overcharging for car parking in rela­tion to the amenities on offer and suggests that this is contributing to their decline", the report found.

Shopping streets visited by between 200,000 and 250,000 people a week charged 18 per cent more than larger and more popular retail locations. Centres attracting fewer than 70,000 people a week were charging more for parking on average than those locations attracting up to 199,999 people a week.

Hie report suggested that part of the problem was councils using higher parking charges to stop peo­ple driving into the middle of towns on streets which pre-dated cars and widespread car ownership.

This had a knock-on effect because fewer people were visiting the shops, forcing some outlets to close. Ojay McDonald, policy manager at the Association of Town & City Management  said: "Local government must view the health of the local business community as the health of their own organisation and implement policies that support local businesses.

"There are concerns that fees are being introduced in areas where congestion is not an issue, or being raised to levels which stifle trade."

He added that funds had been diverted from car parks and reinvestment was not taking place.

MPs welcomed the report. Marcus Jones, chairman of the town centres parliamentary group, said: "Parking has become a very emotive topic for many people. The high street is fragile and accessibility has become a vital issue. I see this report as an important step in providing evidence that will ultimately support town centre regeneration."

Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association's Economy arid Transport Board, said: "Council parking charges are set in consultation with residents and businesses.

"Councils strive to strike a balance between discouraging. commuters from clogging spaces all day while not putting people off from shopping locally, and they operate a range of incentives such as free Sundays, cheaper evenings, free Christmas parking and community group discounts " He said the reduction in council budgets meant they had less to spend on roads and transport initiatives  "Surpluses from parking revenue help lessen the effect of these cuts as they must be spent on transport services such as filling potholes, bus passes for the elderly, park and ride schemes, street lights, parking services and road improvement projects."

The report came as administrators for Jessops, the chain of camera shops, said they were closing all of its 187 stores with the loss of 1,370 jobs. They said further job losses were likely at its head office in Leicester.
Jessops is the first high-profile retail casualty of 2013, after suffering from on-line competition and a boom in camera phones in recent years.

The law firm Begbies Traynor, which specialises in corporate recov­ery, said last month that 140 retailers were facing "critical" financial issues

HOORAY

Yesterday was a red letter day; Powys County Council cabinet voted to end the moratorium on on spending and the 'Prohibition and Restriction of Traffic Regulation Orders'.

The way is now clear to start work on a responsible approach to parking throughout the county.

WATCH THIS SPACE

AT LAST - THE COUNCIL ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT PARKING

We have been very quiet since the council elections in May, hoping that the new council would act on their promises to look at the increasingly pressing problems of traffic and parking throughout the county.

TOMORROW 11^th September on the agenda for decision by the new cabinet is a report by County Councillor W. B. Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Highways

 

The full report has a number of qualifications and no mention is made of residents’ parking permits; however lifting the moratorium is the essential first step and perhaps, the culmination of almost two years lobbying by CRAP and many other interested parties.

SUBJECT: Prohibition and Restriction of Waiting 

Traffic Regulation Orders

The full text of the agenda can be found on

http://www.powys.gov.uk/rep_2012-09-11c1_138a_en.pdf?id=47&L=0

However, for the purpose of this blog, we quote selected parts from the agenda:

The County Council, as local Highway Authority, is empowered to make,
amend and revoke Traffic Regulation Orders to benefit traffic management
and road safety.  The procedure for making a TRO is prescribed by legislation
and includes a statutory duty to consult with bodies such as the police as well
as locally.  There is a similar process for TRO amendment or revocation and
in each case legal and advertising costs are incurred.
Since April 2009 the County Council has had a general moratorium on all
TROs, in order to generate relatively modest savings. 

It is therefore recommended that the current moratorium on waiting restrictions and prohibitions should be lifted to allow the results of the reviews to be implemented and Orders added or amended where appropriate. This report proposes the removal of the current moratorium on Traffic
Regulation Orders (TROs) which relate to the prohibition and restriction of
waiting, subject to the reinstatement of a budget for the Orders. Lifting of the
moratorium is required in order to respond to local demand for revision of
TROs, and the review and possible amendment of existing restrictions
following the implementation of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) in April 2011.
 Options Considered/Available To “do nothing” would not be a realistic option as the Council’s commitment to
review current TROs will establish a demand for amendments.  Legal
requirements would guide the process following a decision to proceed.
Preferred Choice and ReasonsLifting the moratorium, reinstatement of a budget, and the introduction of aprocess for assessing, ranking and prioritising TROs will enable the preparation
and implementation of TROs, with effect from the April 2013 onwards, and will
allow Members’ and local communities’ requests to be evaluated and
progressed.
 

A NEW CAR PARK FOR HAY-ON-WYE?

One of CRAP’s recommendations for Hay-on-Wye was the establishment of overflow public car parking, with some element of residents’ parking in the parking area of the town’s cattle market when it is not being used for market purposes.   We understand that our proposal is being considered as part of the council’s proposals for parking in Hay.

Fingers crossed!

A NEW RESPONSIBLE COUNCIL OFFICER?

It appears from the Powys County Council website that Kevin Lloyd has been replaced by a new officer Tony Caine as the new Traffic Systems and Road Safety Manager.  If so, his will not be an easy role and we wish him every success in the future.

PARKING, HAY FESTIVAL, MARY PORTAS AND HAY CASTLE

 AT LAST - THE COUNCIL ARE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT PARKING

We have been very quiet since the council elections in May, hoping that the new council would act on their promises to look at the increasingly pressing problems of traffic and parking throughout the county.

TOMORROW 11^th September on the agenda for decision by the new cabinet is a report by County Councillor W. B. Thomas, Portfolio Holder for Highways

 

The full report has a number of qualifications and no mention is made of residents’ parking permits; however lifting the moratorium is the essential first step and perhaps, the culmination of almost two years lobbying by CRAP and many other interested parties.

SUBJECT: Prohibition and Restriction of Waiting 

Traffic Regulation Orders

The full text of the agenda can be found on

http://www.powys.gov.uk/rep_2012-09-11c1_138a_en.pdf?id=47&L=0

However, for the purpose of this blog, we quote selected parts from the agenda:

The County Council, as local Highway Authority, is empowered to make,

amend and revoke Traffic Regulation Orders to benefit traffic management

and road safety.  The procedure for making a TRO is prescribed by legislation

and includes a statutory duty to consult with bodies such as the police as well

as locally.  There is a similar process for TRO amendment or revocation and

in each case legal and advertising costs are incurred.

Since April 2009 the County Council has had a general moratorium on all

TROs, in order to generate relatively modest savings.

It is therefore recommended that the current moratorium on waiting restrictions and prohibitions should be lifted to allow the results of the reviews to be implemented and Orders added or amended where appropriate.

This report proposes the removal of the current moratorium on Traffic

Regulation Orders (TROs) which relate to the prohibition and restriction of

waiting, subject to the reinstatement of a budget for the Orders. Lifting of the

moratorium is required in order to respond to local demand for revision of

TROs, and the review and possible amendment of existing restrictions

following the implementation of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) in April 2011. 

Options Considered/Available

To “do nothing” would not be a realistic option as the Council’s commitment to

review current TROs will establish a demand for amendments.  Legal

requirements would guide the process following a decision to proceed.

Preferred Choice and Reasons

Lifting the moratorium, reinstatement of a budget, and the introduction of a

process for assessing, ranking and prioritising TROs will enable the preparation

and implementation of TROs, with effect from the April 2013 onwards, and will

allow Members’ and local communities’ requests to be evaluated and

progressed.

A NEW CAR PARK FOR HAY-ON-WYE?

One of CRAP’s recommendations for Hay-on-Wye was the establishment of overflow public car parking, with some element of residents’ parking in the parking area of the town’s cattle market when it is not being used for market purposes.   We understand that our proposal is being considered as part of the council’s proposals for parking in Hay.

Fingers crossed!

A NEW RESPONSIBLE COUNCIL OFFICER?

It appears from the Powys County Council website that Kevin Lloyd has been replaced by a new officer Tony Caine as the new Traffic Systems and Road Safety Manager.  If so, his will not be an easy role and we wish him every success in the future.

PARKING, HAY FESTIVAL, MARY PORTAS AND HAY CASTLE

Hay Literary Festival this year was its usual fascinating mix of erudition, entertainment and information – and this year traffic chaos due to the quite horrific wet weather.   Please Hay Festival organisers, make contingency plans next year for such weather, prepare signage and enough volunteers to guide traffic and don’t make it such that visitors could be dissuaded from visiting again.

Among those participating was Mary Portas who gave a very interesting talk on her plans to regenerate the centres of our small towns.  It was interesting to note how important she thought intelligently formulated and sympathetically applied car parking regulations are for the healthy commercial and social future of our town centres.

In passing, national statistics show that some 13% of town centre shop properties are now vacant; whilst this is certainly not true of Hay (yet!) we cannot afford to be complacent and must think through what our town centres will offer to attract people in the future.

Another talk was given by Trustees of the Hay Castle Trust, who earlier this year bought Hay Castle from Richard Booth, the ‘King of Hay’.  They have exciting and ambitious plans for the future of the castle which is hoped will once assume its place as the central focus of the town, as an arts and community centre offering an eclectic mix of entertainments and exhibitions in what promises to be a very architecturally exciting restoration and development.

The Hay Castle Trust have made initial approaches to all sorts of funding bodies to help fund their plans and it was interesting to note that a major factor is securing initial indications of support from the Heritage Lottery Fund is the close proximity of the town centre car park to the castle.  Apparently not many similar heritage properties have such an advantage and the car park could well prove an important factor in helping secure future funding.