You are here: Home » Your City Council » Council Meetings » Cabinet » Agendas 2004 » Agenda 14th January 2004 » City Centre Parking
City Centre Parking Strategy Part One
REPORT OF HEAD OF
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES REPORT TO CABINET
14 JANUARY 2004
CITY CENTRE PARKING STRATEGY
1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT
1.1 To seek Members approval for a Car Parking Strategy for the City Centre for the next 10 years, the procurement of two or three new car parks to deliver the strategy, and a Car Parking Business Plan.
2.0 BACKGROUND
2.1 At the Cabinet Meeting of June 26th, 2002, Members endorsed a draft Transport Strategy for the City Centre. This outlined the vital role that all forms of transport will have in both contributing to and enabling the successful regeneration of the City Centre. This was the central theme of the recent Winter Gardens exhibition. Part of the Strategy, in line with current UDP policy, is dependent upon improving access for shoppers and visitors by car, and part of that is to identify the quality and number of parking spaces. The June 2002 Report established the likely additional number of parking spaces needed to meet the demand generated by the New Retail Quarter, and the other developments that are planned. This number is approximately 500 additional spaces, with the exact number dependant upon the size and characteristics of any new car parking sites identified. Since June, the emerging strategy for the redevelopment of the Moor to include a new Markets site will also need to be considered.
3.0 CAR PARKING STRATEGY.
3.1 In order to achieve a more accessible City Centre, and to support the regeneration projects, larger, high quality car parks are needed. These will provide the level of accessibility and security required to encourage people to visit and stay longer.
3.2 This in turn will require a reduction in the number of smaller, often temporary development sites, that are difficult to adequately sign, less easy to access and less likely to be able to cover the cost of quality improvements. In any case, several of these smaller car parks will disappear as the New Retail Quarter progresses.
3.3 The location of the remaining larger car parks – and indeed any new car parks – is a critical part of the car parking strategy. There is a need for car parking within each of the emerging City Centre districts and quarters that act as focal points for car access, and that are linked to the main regeneration projects. This has supported and influenced the Access Loop System for the city (referred to in the June 2002 Cabinet Report, and see Map A)
3.4 New car parks are already planned within the New Retail Quarter as part of the John Lewis development, and within the Heart of the City. To complete the strategy, and to provide the additional car parking referred to earlier, two locations for new, multi-storey car parks have been identified, one in the north-west of the City Centre in the West Street area, and one to the south-east in the Eyre Street area to serve the Moor, the Cultural Industries Quarter and potentially the new Market. These two locations have been selected from a list of more than ten potential locations across the City Centre, and are preferred on the basis of such criteria as capacity, location and compatibility with the Access Loop System. Car parking on the new locations will primarily provide short stay parking, catering for the needs of shoppers and visitors.
3.5 The implementation of this car parking strategy will mean that there will be 13 major car parks (see Map B), and a number of smaller car parks, with a combined total of approximately 9500 shopping and visitor spaces serving each district of the City Centre. ( A similar analysis to identify the future need and locations of on-street parking, including the needs of disabled drivers is underway and will be reported at a later date).
4.0 IMPLEMENTING THE STRATEGY.
4.1 The effective implementation of the car parking strategy will involve all the car park operators in the City Centre. An Operators Working Group has been established, with a general remit to agree a common interest and mutual benefit in the regeneration of the City Centre through the parking strategy. More specifically, the Group will seek to progress common operating and pricing policies, and to agree quality standards (with funding) for all car parks.
4.2 Improved car parking will also involve improved signing as part of the Councils Connect Sheffield Initiative for drivers coming to Sheffield, and in order to find the City Centre car parks easily. A new variable message system is being developed that will direct drivers on to the Access Loop System, and to car parks showing the numbers of available spaces. The pilot phase of the new system is incorporated into the Charter Row improvement scheme. The extension across all access loops will again be progressed through the Operators Working Group.
4.3 The operating and pricing policies of the new car parks, their quality and their inclusion within the signing strategy, will all be determined through the planning process.
4.4 Initial discussions have already taken place with the owners of the potential car park locations in the West Street and Eyre Street areas. In order to maintain parking levels, the new West Street and Eyre Street car parks will need to be in operation by the middle of 2005. With such a tight timescale, should efforts to acquire the land interests by agreement fail, Cabinet is asked to approve the principle of the Council exercising, subject to full cost indemnity, its Compulsory Purchase Order powers. This will assist in the site assembly in order to secure these strategically important car parks.
4.5 Because of the nature and extent of Council involvement in the procurement process, the precise circumstances surrounding each site is not yet known and may well differ for each car park. In order to progress, Cabinet is asked to approve the selection of a Development Partner in accordance with the Councils Contract Procedures, in order to work with the Council to deliver the car parks. Because of the sensitive nature of procurement, Cabinet is also asked to approve the work with a successful Development Partner be delegated to the Executive Director of DEL, in conjunction with the Cabinet Member.
5.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
5.1 The future changes to both the on and off – street parking in the City Centre will have a dramatic impact on the income of the Councils Parking Services. Many of the smaller car parks that disappear as a result of the parking strategy are currently owned and operated by the Council. It is likely that the new car parks will be privately operated. Attached is a Council Car Parking Business Plan which takes account of the impacts of the proposed changes, for which Cabinet approval is sought.
6.0 BUSINESS PLAN SUMMARY
6.1 Included in the Business Plan are proposals to address the need for common policies, consistent pricing and quality standards for all City Centre car parks.
6.2 This will increase in importance as the number of car parks currently operated by the Council diminishes. A number of options have been investigated, including a relatively simple Memorandum of Understanding between the Council and other Operators, a more formal Partnership Agreement, or the establishment of a new Joint Venture Company into which all car parks would be transferred. The conclusion drawn is that the establishment of a Joint Venture Company would not be appropriate in Sheffield, but continued cooperation with other local operators is essential. However, in terms of the procurement of new car parks, a project specific, formal partnership may be appropriate.
6.3 In connection with on-street parking, there are proposals to improve
the management of parking spaces. The Business Plan refers to the Decriminalisation of Parking Enforcement. This proposal would transfer the enforcement of on-street parking legislation from the Police to the City Council. Cabinet authority to proceed on this basis was approved at its Meeting on December 10th 2003.
6.4 The second theme of the Business Plan s to address the impact of the future changes to the Councils car parks on income levels. The income from car parking over the next 3 years is predicted to fall as a result of the closure of car parks associated in particular with the Heart of the City progress, and as the New Retail Quarter improvements develop.
6.5 The Business Plan therefore proposes a series of financial proposals and alterations to the car parking operations in order to cover the effects of inflation on operating costs, continued improvements to the quality of the remaining car parks (such as achieving Secured Car Park status), and minimising the impact on overall car parking income. Central to the proposals is a 3-year strategy to review parking charges on an annual basis, and to secure alternative income from the New Retail Quarter Development Agreement. Any proposal arising from this review will be considered by Members of the appropriate Planning Board.
7.0 EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IMPLICATIONS
7.1 The Business Plan includes specific recommendations to review the provision of both off and on-street parking spaces for disabled drivers. The location of the on-street spaces will be identified with the Council’s Access Liaison Group
8.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
Cabinet is recommended
1. To approve the City Centre Parking Strategy
2. To approve the possible use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers if necessary to procure new car parks in the West Street and Eyre Street areas.
3. To approve delegated authority given to the Executive Director for DEL in conjunction with the Cabinet Member in order to progress the procurement of new car parks.
4. To approve the Car Parking Business Plan, including the strategy to review parking charges on an annual basis.
Downloads
How useful is this page?