MEETING OF COUNCIL - Town of Cambridge

COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2012
Private Parking Areas and Agreements
Private Parking Agreements are facilitated through the Town of Cambridge Parking Local
Law and allow for individual land owners and/or business proprietors to enter into an
agreement whereby authorised Council officers enforce parking restrictions applied by the
owner to the parking area associated with their land. This is a free service and only a small
administration fee is imposed if an infringement is revoked due to a reporting error on their
part. These Agreements can be cause for concern as difficulties arise with their
enforcement and administration. Furthermore, requests for parking restrictions can often be
contrary to conditions of planning approval.
The Consultant's experience in other local authorities suggests that consolidation of small
individual car parks into one management body, with net revenue being distributed based on
number of bays owned, is the most efficient and cost effective method to rationalise small
land holdings. There is potential for this to be investigated in the Southport Street and
Cambridge High Street commercial areas and the Wembley Town Centre.
Annual renewal of these agreements presents opportunities to discuss rationalisation of
private car parking and opportunities for consolidation and resolution of the above issues.
The Steering Committee has expressed interest in taking the opportunity to discuss such
options for improving parking arrangements when agreements fall due for renewal. This is
an approach the Town can investigate in regard to providing more effective use of bays in
the short term, and one to which cash in lieu contributions could be applied in the future.
Major Findings and Recommendations
The Strategic vision for parking and access as outlined in the Consultant’s report addresses
matters over the short, medium and long term. It is therefore intended that the Access and
Parking Strategy be closely linked to developing a parking strategy and ultimately integrated
with a transport strategy for the Town. In this respect the Strategy will be used as a guiding
document and the recommendations will be further investigated and progressed where
considered warranted as part of the Town’s parking and transport strategies.
POLICY/STATUTORY IMPLICATIONS:
The Access and Parking Strategy forms part of the review of Town Planning Scheme No. 1
and will be integral to the review of the Scheme Text, the Town's Off-Street Parking Policy
and future application of cash-in-lieu for parking.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The cost for Luxmoore Consulting to undertake both Part 1 and 2 of the Access and Parking
Strategy was covered in the Town Planning Scheme Review Budget 2011/12. Future
management of parking and access demand will require further investment of Council funds.
Revenue sources could include cash-in-lieu contributions, income from paid parking and
parking fines.
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