West Dean Parish Council would like to submit the following response for consideration during the draft budget consultation currently being undertaken by Councillors at FODDC. Our comments relate to parking charges specifically and also methods of payment facilities.
The Forest of Dean has also been identified as having the poorest provision of public transport in the Country which forces people in outlying villages into their cars. hence the high levels of car ownership.
The Forest of Dean has also been identified as having some of the highest levels of car ownership in the Country along with some of the oldest vehicles still being used by residents.
The current proposal within the budget options that seeks to increase car parking charges by some 300% will have an adverse effect on local residents and will impact on their everyday lives. It will increase the cost burden on already stretched households when making short time visits to the local shops, doctors, dentists, or pharmacies. This proposal will also have a detrimental effect on the residents of those towns and villages which have pay and display car parks, as people will seek alternative parking where there is not a charge on nearby residential roads and side streets in an effort to reduce the cost burden of the parking charge during the cost-of-living crisis.
West Dean Parish Council proposes that the current 50 pence for the first two hours is retained and that the charges for parking beyond this are increased as proposed within the Fees and Charges paper that sits with the budget consultation. This would ensure that local residents would still be able to access local facilities at the current rate.
We also believe that greater emphasis should be placed on the availability of parking permits for the pay and display car parks as this is a very little-known facility which would aid those working in the local facilities or those visiting on a regular basis to do so in a cost-effective manner. This scheme should be heavily publicised. It would be interesting to understand how many such permits are currently being sold, whether these are transferrable between cars at a household and how these could be further promoted locally to raise awareness of this facility and the payment options.
We understand that parking permit purchases have the option to be purchased by direct debit; could the same facility be made available to assist residents in purchasing garden waste licences? These too will be uplifted in the budget and with the current cost of living crisis this would be a benefit to those who want to access the service but find the entire payment in advance difficult from limited household budgets.
We would also like to see a return to free initial advice when considering applying for planning consent, we believe this would aid both residents and reduce officer time in correcting errors or incorrect details being submitted in planning applications.
We do have some concerns about the consultation process undertaken by FODDC on their draft budget proposals, not only does the timeframe for the consultation preclude some town and parishes discuss the draft budget and its implications at their Council meetings it also gives very little time for residents to respond to the consultation. There needs to be better and wider consultation of the draft budget perhaps in a similar way to other authorities, but we would also strongly suggest that the headline elements of the budget be identified to enable discussion and response from residents. The consultation should also consider how those residents that are not connected digitally to the authority can engage in the consultation process, many residents don’t’ have access to digital media and this section of the community can be underrepresented in consultation responses.
Sent on behalf of West Dean Parish Council.
1 Comment
Instead of increasing the public car parking in the forest which will deter people from using them why not offer for an annual fee for residents who do not have a driveway the oppertunity to have a parking bay on the road outside their property which only they can use between the hours of say 16.00 and 08.00 the following morning weekdays and all hours of the weekend.
I am sure there must be countless parents who have come home from work and who have to lug their shopping halfway down the street or people who wish to clean there cars but cannot do so because they can not get near their property.
For a fee of say £100 for the white lines of the parking bay to be set out in the road and a yearly fee of £50 the council might find that it could be a popular move and bring in a guarenteed income whereas to increase the cost of using the public car parks will only deter hard pressed people of visiting the town thus depriving local buisinesses of customers when the towns are already struggling.