Cabinet rejects annual £25 charge for residents parking schemes as “households are struggling to make ends meet”

Cabinet rejects annual £25 charge for residents parking schemes as “households are struggling to make ends meet”

Cllr Stuart Whittingham (left) Cabinet 6th November 2017

Cabinet rejects annual £25 charge for residents parking schemes as “households are struggling to make ends meet”

                                                    

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Cabinet (Wirral Council) 6th November 2017 Part 1 of 2

 
Cllr Stuart Whittingham (left) proposing altered recommendations Cabinet 6th November 2017
Cllr Stuart Whittingham (left) proposing altered recommendations Cabinet 6th November 2017

This is an update to a story published last week on this blog headlined Will Wirral Council start charging up to £25 a year for parking permits in resident parking scheme areas?

Cabinet met on Monday and watered down cross-party proposals that would’ve resulted in consultation on an estimated annual £25 charge on households for residents’ parking schemes.

The original recommendations were:


  
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Recommendation 1
It is recommended that:

i) The Resident Parking Policy is updated to reflect the proposed amendments to the existing criteria and the inclusion of a policy statement allowing discretionary consideration of applications where all parts of the criteria are not complied with as detailed in Appendix 4 to this report;
ii) A full review of the amended policy is carried out after the first two years of operation with a report back to the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee on the findings of that review and any other recommendations arising.

Recommendation 2
It is recommended that applications for resident parking schemes should be accompanied by a non-refundable application fee to cover the cost of the initial investigation only.It is recommended that this fee is discounted from the introduction fee applied to successful applications.

Recommendation 3
Officers should review all issues relating to visitor passes to properties included within a resident parking scheme, including how these are issued and the number of passes per property, giving due regard to issues of effectiveness, cost and resources to administer.

Recommendation 4
It is recommended that officers are provided with delegated powers to review and update the level of permit fee for resident parking schemes on an annual basis as part of the annual fees and charges review process; taking into account the cost of administration, maintenance and periodic reviews of the schemes to ensure they remain fit for purpose.

Recommendation 5
It is recommended that officers are instructed to commence the necessary legal processes to amend all historic resident parking schemes in order to implement permit fees.


Cllr Stuart Whittingham said at the meeting, “Some of these schemes are in areas where households are struggling to make ends meet.”

He went on to ask Cabinet’s approval for a change to the original recommendations as follows:-

“Delete the recommendation on page 53 and replace with:

1. Cabinet notes the findings of the report and approves the first three recommendations of the Task and Finish Group.

2. For new schemes and those introduced since 2007 under the most recent policy, charges for residents’ permits should continue to be fixed at £10 per a year until further notice.

3. For the majority of historic schemes issued before 2007 where residents do not currently pay traffic for residents permits, existing residents already in these areas should continue to enjoy these schemes for free with the exception that new residents moving into these areas as from the 1st April 2018 should pay £10 a year.

4. Officers are instructed to commence the necessary legal processes to amend the road traffic regulation orders on this basis.”

Cabinet agreed the altered recommendations.

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Author: John Brace

New media journalist from Birkenhead, England who writes about Wirral Council. Published and promoted by John Brace, 134 Boundary Road, Bidston, CH43 7PH. Printed by UK Webhosting Ltd t/a Tsohost, 113-114 Buckingham Avenue, Slough, Berkshire, England, SL1 4PF.

7 thoughts on “Cabinet rejects annual £25 charge for residents parking schemes as “households are struggling to make ends meet””

  1. Now the morally bankrupt Council are trying to screw us financially!!
    Remember this at local election time

  2. Did the subject of alleged racism come up at this meeting John?

    I’ve spotted how despite it making an appearance in Private Eye, not one of the 66 councillors or the local alleged newspapers wants to talk about it. Even the single Green member.

    And in particular, George Davies and Steve Foulkes.

    Why on earth would that be?

      1. Perhaps alleged #Racism is now the subject that dare not speak its name around these parts?

        But I for one will continue to mention it – loudly and clearly – particularly after I saw a few opportunistic PR shots of Wirral Councillors, including Councillor Foulkes, holding aloft red “SAY NO TO RACISM” cards in the council chamber AND on the splendid staircase at Brighton Street Town Hall.

        All very organised and all done for te camerast. But the problem now is are these public servants being hypocritical, since they have not publicly referred to the alleged incident occurring in Sorrento on 7th October 2017?

        And in particularly Councillor Tony Norbury, at the front of one of the photos, whose Twitter account is packed with lofty statements referring to the calling out and challenging of ALL FORMS OF RACISM.

        Well, the alleged behaviour of Elaine Foulkes was most certainly a FORM of racism and it most certainly needs to be called out and challenged. Particularly, one would think, by a well-placed councillor who describes himself as a “union learner”. You’d think this very subject would be right up his street, but still…..

        …..he sits in awkward S I L E N C E.

        One is forced to ask oneself the probing question, “Does this councillor place his party advantage AHEAD of addressing the alleged criminal conduct of a person closely related to important movers and shakers inside his Labour party?”

        If he is indeed doing this, then he most certainly is a h y p o c r i t e.

  3. Pay to park outside of your home, unbelieveable!
    Maybe if they didn’t waste money on fireworks they would have money to spend elsewhere!

    1. In certain areas the residents parking schemes were introduced because before their introduction people had trouble parking outside their own homes.

      Were the costs of the River of Light fireworks split this year with Liverpool City Council?

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