Charges to be introduced at on-street parking bays in St Albans and Harpenden, and a brand new Access Pass for older residents using the Council’s car parks
Charges are to be introduced at some limited waiting on-street parking bays in St Albans and Harpenden following an extensive public consultation.
St Albans City and District Council’s original proposals have been modified in response to feedback from residents, Councillors, businesses and community groups.
One aim of the proposals is to encourage active travel, such as cycling and walking, where possible, rather than car use, to improve the local environment.
Other aims are to ensure a greater turnover of premium parking places and improve enforcement by enabling new methods such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition.
Four new disabled bays are also being created to provide improved parking facilities for motorists with Blue Badges in Harpenden’s town centre.
The charges will affect an additional 243 bays in Harpenden and an additional 70 in St Albans, and are due to come into effect on Monday 17 February.
Motorists will have several payment options, including contactless via pay and display machines, with new equipment to be installed at key locations; the mobile phone app PayByPhone; and, soon after implementation, and cash or chip and pin at PayPoint outlets.
The decision to introduce charges required a Traffic Regulation Order authorised by the Council’s Strategic Director for Community and Place Delivery in consultation with Councillor Helen Campbell, Lead for Parking.
Cllr Campbell said:
I fully understand some people will be disappointed at being charged for a service they have been getting for free.
In making the decision, we analysed the responses to the consultations and engaged with stakeholders such as ward Councillors and Harpenden Town Council.
We listened to the feedback and we made some significant changes as a result, such as changing the start of the controlled hours to 9am in Harpenden to help parents dropping off for school, and meeting requests for a longer free period of 30 mins. In addition, we will also be improving access to Harpenden town centre for Blue Badge holders.
Cllr Campbell added:
The charges are benchmarked against other local authorities, with many towns of a similar size to Harpenden having long had charges for on-street bays. As with other parking charges, we will monitor the impact of the changes and review if necessary.
The charges will:
Apply from 9am to 6pm in Harpenden and, reflecting local conditions, 8.30am to 6.30pm in St Albans, both Monday to Saturday, with no charge outside these hours.
Allow for a 30-minutes free period once a day.
Be £1.25 for 30 minutes, so the charge for a one-hour stay will be £1.25 while the two-hour cost will be £3.75, both including the free period.
Cover a maximum stay of two hours with no return for two hours.
Charges will not be considered at bays in York Road, St Albans, as originally proposed, until a wider review of parking in the area takes place.
Five limited waiting bays in Leyton Green, Harpenden, will be converted into resident parking bays for the benefit of local households.
Revenue from charges will go towards the Council’s on-street car parking services budget, which is currently running at a deficit, and towards greater levels of parking enforcement.
Cllr Campbell added:
The Secretary of State is clear that parking services should be self-sufficient, funded by fees and charges, instead of subsidised by other Council services as is the case at the moment. The revenue generated will help reduce the on-street parking service deficit, which is in the interest of all Council taxpayers as it will ensure we can better protect some of our other services.
Should any surplus income arise from on-street car parking, it would have to be kept in a ring-fenced budget and only be invested in parking, highways and environmental improvements.
ACCESS PASS
Alongside these changes to the way on street parking operates, the Council has also approved a brand new Access Pass to help older people who may have difficulties with digital applications. This pass will be made available for purchase from Thursday 13 February and will cover all the District Council car parks.
The pass will cost £190 a year and be valid for one visit a day for up to three hours.
To be eligible for the pass, a person would need to be a resident of the District and aged 70 or over.
Media contact: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer: 01727- 819533; john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.