An overhaul of parking policies across North Yorkshire is set to lead to more enforcement and a county-wide review of parking charges.
North Yorkshire Council is drawing up new principles to guide decisions about parking provision in the future.
Different systems for parking management are currently in place as a legacy from the former district and borough councils before the launch of the unitary authority in 2023.
Council chiefs now want to develop a consistent parking strategy for the car parks and on-street parking it controls across the county.
A report to councillors by Steve Brown, head of parking services, stated:
“The council has inherited, from the previous eight councils, a range of parking policies across the county and it is important that we have a consistent strategy going forward.
“To that end, we are intending to develop a three-stage approach so that we can agree and adopt policies in a phased manner thus meaning that we can adopt some policies more quickly, where appropriate, and take longer on those aspects that require more time.”
The first stage is the development of the parking principles.
The principles include a plan for a one-off review of all charges which will consider their appropriateness.
This is necessary due to the “major variances” in off-street charges inherited by the council, the report states.
Following this process, the council said it would keep parking rules, tariffs and investment priorities under annual review.
Earlier this year, former executive member for transport Keane Duncan suggested that the council could roll out more free parking availability in a bid to boost town centre trade.
The report however claims that surveys have shown the availability and certainty of finding a space, rather than its cost, is most important to motorists, with drivers also cutting short visits if free parking is available for a set period of time.
The report added:
“The approach needs careful consideration in order to operate most effectively.
“Free parking offers can reduce the ability to manage availability levels and can encourage a ‘rush back’ to the car rather than staying longer and spending more.
“They can also encourage short local trips by car that could have been made in other ways.”
Other proposals include a bolstering of parking enforcement to keep contraventions down to an acceptable level.
The council is looking to adopt more “frictionless arrangements” such as barrier-free parking, with the report noting that best parking practice was to move away from pay-and-display towards a pay-on-foot or pay-on-exit approach.
The authority is already planning to replace the range of mobile phone parking apps used by the predecessor authorities with a single app for the whole of North Yorkshire.
Future stages of the parking review include the creation of policy papers that explain how the principles will be put into action, with town-specific parking strategies also developed.
The report will be discussed by members of the council’s transport, economy, environment and enterprise overview and scrutiny committee on next Friday.
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