a)    By Councillor Davey

This council agrees to provide FREE parking for residents every day, with immediate effect, for a 3 hour period between 10am and 1pm in all RBWM Car Parks within walking distance of retail centres until the end of December 2020.

(A maximum period of 30 minutes will be allowed for each Motion to be moved, seconded and debated, including dealing with any amendments.  At the expiry of the 30-minute period debate will cease immediately, the mover of the Motion or amendment will have the right of reply before the Motion or amendment is put to the vote).

Mr Brian McCormack, lead petitioner, for the following petition, was invited to speak:

‘We the undersigned petition the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to offer free parking for residents over the important Christmas retail period to help boost Windsor footfall’

Mr McCormack explained that he had been admitted to hospital with a suspected heart attack the previous day. He was suffering from chronic fatigue as a result of working constantly since 15 June 2020 to keep his business going. He had heard about the removal of the Advantage Card scheme earlier in the year and understood the reasons for doing so.   Just before his petition had closed, Councillor Cannon had announced the Sunday and Wednesday concessions. Once the petition closed, Mr McCormack had sent an email to Councillors Cannon and Rayner. Parking in Maidenhead was already free on Sundays and he felt there should be parity for Windsor.

Mr McCormack explained that his business was currently down by 39.7% down on the 52 weeks. He had one of the stronger positions in the town centre but this was no position for any business to be in. He understood that the revenue the council received would have been impacted by a reduction in season tickets but he felt it was unfair to penalise residents who were paying tourist fees for parking. He understood that the Advantage Card discount had been removed until further notice and would be brought back in if possible. It was now half way through December and he accepted that the concession was lost from 1-15 December, but he felt it would be a gesture of goodwill to give a concession for the remainder of the month. He would normally serve between 500-600 customers a week at this time of year but this was not happening because of the pandemic. Saturday and Sunday were equally busy in the town centre so if free parking was being offered on one day then it should be offered on the other one too. Anything would help the retail sector for the last few days, it was important to get Windsor residents shopping in their own town centre.

Councillor Davey introduced his motion. He explained he wished to amend his motion, following advice from officers. The amended motion had been costed at 20% of the original motion that had been put forward. The original motion was along the lines of what Mr McCormack was requesting but he understood the financial implications. Councillor Davey read out his amended motion:

This Council agrees to extend the Christmas parking for the majority of RBWM car parks with immediate effect for a 3 hour period between 9am and 12pm on Mondays and Tuesdays until the end of the year to boost local retail sales and support RBWM retailers.

Councillor Davey felt that he should not have needed to bring the motion or promote the petition so widely. The main concerns were about COVID-19 and keeping people apart, but Sundays were responsible for 18% of revenue in Windsor. This was the second busiest day so the excuse of busy days did not stand. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays brought in just 10% each day therefore logically more residents were needed on those days. Older residents and parents preferred daylight hours when the children were at school. Councillor Davey commented that surely the council could find £30,000 for Monday and Tuesday mornings to alleviate the stress that retailers were going through. He was unsure why others could not see the future as he did. He asked how much money the council had spent on consultants on the Local Plan in recent weeks. He had seen in the news that the telecommunications company ‘3’ was leaving Maidenhead. The council did not own the building but received a chunk of the £2.2m business rates. He was advised that the rateable value was £2.2m. The council was investing £60,000 in an Economic Development Manager. Their job would be far easier if, when searching for RBWM on the internet, a story came up about how the council had helped retailers. The council was spending £400,000 on maximising the digital distribution of Around the Royal Borough next year. Councillor Davey asked if any of the current year’s budget was available for a good cause.  There had been talk of visitors to Windsor tapping to pay £3 to fund the homeless; he suggested this could be used to raise the necessary funds for retailers.

Councillor Hill seconded the amended motion.

Councillor Cannon commented that he would like to support businesses more and the council had done so in years past; but this was not years past but a unique year. Despite Councillor Davey’s assumptions, the Town Managers had said that extra people were not needed in the towns on Saturdays because of overcrowding. This was the reason Sunday had been chosen. Councillor Cannon highlighted a number of practical issues with the motion, including signage. He had been advised by officers that the proposal was not feasible. He questioned what other services Councillor Davey would wish to see cut to fund his proposal.

Councillor Singh commented that he believed the motion was vital to support the towns, the residents of the borough and others who visited. It was an important motion for his ward. The town centres were suffering; they were very quiet even on Saturdays.  The loss of the Advantage Card discount was starting to pinch families. Mr McCormack had done a fantastic job with his petition to highlight the problems retailers were experiencing. The issue of funding the proposal had been raised. Councillor Singh commented that one coffee shop in a town centre would pay rates of £30,000. If the motion saved one business, it would therefore pay for itself.

Councillor Werner commented that he felt it was astounding that the council would not agree to such a small thing to help those who ran businesses, worked in or used the businesses in the town centres. Councillor Johnson had earlier talked about the importance of keeping businesses in the borough. This would be a small sign to them. The cost to the council was small but the financial benefits were large. The lack of support reflected the financial short-termism that had been a feature of the last ten years and had left the council in its current difficult financial situation. Without every bit of support possible, more shops would close. The business owners and employees would be devastated. This would affect the finances of the council as it would lead to increased council tax benefits being paid out. Fewer shops meant less parking income in future. Encouraging people to shop on Mondays and Tuesdays would spread the footfall therefore there was a strong COVID argument. The signage argument was bizarre; a sign saying ‘free parking until 12 noon’ would suffice.

Councillor Rayner thanked Mr McCormack for this petition and the time he had given her when she had visited his shop. It was with a heavy heart that she could not support any more free parking. She fully appreciated the enormous difficulties businesses were facing and the importance of the Christmas shopping period. The motion was however not possible due to operational, COVID-19 and financial reasons. Members had been working with the Town Manager on ideas. The council was extremely grateful that Windsor Yards had agreed to match the free parking offer already in place. The owners of Windsor Dials had also agreed to open up their car park after construction finished on 24 December 2020, which would help with the sales period. Councillor Rayner highlighted the communications that were being promoted, including the My Royal Borough website hub, a digital magazine, a video by key stakeholders, competitions on social media and a ‘shop local’ campaign. Regular meetings were being held with partners and stakeholders to resolve issues. The council was also working with the police and the Community Wardens to keep area safe.

Councillor Hill commented that in an email exchange he had seen, Members had been told that the £30,000 cost would put pressure on the delivery of other savings; in other words, the money could be found. The forecast for reserves at the end of the year was still very healthy. The motion would help spread footfall and keep businesses going. Many businesses were just hanging on and relied on the Christmas period to make a decent profit.  If business failed there would be no business rates and no council tax; people would have to make the choice between food and fuel and children may go hungry. If Members voted against the motion, they would be voting against the businesses, the families they supported and the economic health of the borough.

Councillor McWilliams commented that he wished to differentiate between the sentiment and the cold light of reality. No one disagreed with the need for all to do as much as possible within what could be done to support local businesses, He had shopped local and encouraged others to do so.  The council had proposed a £70m investment in local recovery and infrastructure in the draft budget. Alongside policies at the national level including the vaccination programme, track and trace, the continuation of furlough schemes, the break on evictions and business rate support, this would be what rescued the economy.

All Members had received a briefing note on the technical problems with implementation of the original motion, including the distinction between resident and non-resident and the fact that there were more Advantage Cards in circulation that residents. Councillor Davey had suggested using funding allocated for rough sleepers. This was the opposite of Robin Hood. Councillor McWilliams commented that the figure of £413,000 related to the entire communications budget for the year rather than one edition of Around the Royal Borough.

Councillor Carole Da Costa commented that for a charitable organisation to pay the amount of parking fees at the moment was extortionate. A volunteer went to collect some goods from the town centre. She was only in the store for seven minutes but this had cost over £2 in parking. If the parking costs could not be dropped for Christmas to help retailers, she asked the council to think long term how it protected the most vulnerable in society, how to stop the retailers from losing their jobs and becoming the vulnerable.

Councillor Tisi commented that she had been to Windsor on the last two Sundays and it had been heaving. This was not because of free parking but because it was nearly Christmas. On the first Sunday there had been no signage at the college car park and people were unsure. The next week the signage at Victoria Street had fallen down. Therefore the council may not have lost as much income as it thought.  It would have been better to spread footfall out across the week and in daylight hours.

Councillor Stimson commented that her experience of Maidenhead was that it was busy at weekends. In the last four or five weeks the Cabinet had been having discussions on how to balance the budget, it was a hideous situation and you could not say it was ’just’ £30,000.

The Mayor advised Members that the 30 minute limit had been reached.

Councillor Davey concluded the debate by commenting that the draft budget stated the council would lose £1m in parking revenue, possibly another £2m. these were very round numbers yet Members were being told £30,000 could not be found? Mr McCormack was one of many business people working 24/7 to keep their business going and the council could not be bothered to find £30,000 because the motion had been proposed by Councillor Davey rather than a member of the administration. Those who voted against the motion would be putting a nail in the coffin for local retailers.

On being put to the vote, the motion fell.