To receive the above report.

Neil Walter, Parking Principle introduced the item and gave an update on the parking situation in Windsor. He stated that the parking strategy had been formally adopted a year ago but had been kept under review ever since. An officer review group had been established as part of this process. Members were told that 26 individual work streams had been identified, which had been categorised into short, medium or long-term projects and officers assigned to them. One of the reviews, looking at parking restrictions at The Boltons, was already underway. Colleagues in the Transformation team were involved as part of projects that aimed to reduce emissions and introduce more electric charging points.

Members were told that 50 parking ticket machines had been removed from the streets and car parks as they had come to the end of their life. These had been replaced through the use of the parking app, and additional signage pointing out nearby machines.

Members were shown a number of presentation slides showing proposed changes to signage and restrictions due to be implemented in the Thames Street area of Windsor, particularly around the Theatre Royal.

Neil Walter told the Forum that a review of fees and charges was currently taking place, and was due to be discussed at December’s Cabinet meeting. The meeting would also discuss a residents’ discount scheme.

Regarding visitor numbers, members were told that there had been a 60 per cent drop in car park usage in 2020/21 compared to 2019/20, because of lockdown restrictions imposed due to Covid. Neil Walter said however there had been 540,000 users of Windsor car parks in the seven months to date in 2021/22, which was comparable against the 569,000 recorded car park users for the same period in 2019/20. The major difference was the number of coaches using the coach park. In 2019/20 there had been 20,000 coaches using the coach parks, compared to just 165 in 2020/21. This had still not recovered and 1,022 coaches had used the coach parks in the year to date. Neil Walter said it was predicted this would not begin to pick up for another six months at least.

Responding to a question from the Chairman regarding traffic outside the castle, Neil Walter said buses were often unable to pull into bus stops due to other vehicles stopping to drop people off at hotels. However this often couldn’t be enforced because it was not an offence to idle on a double yellow line.

Resident Faye Wessely asked if there was any progress on the residents’ parking review, stating that she lived in an area with significant issues with parking. Neil Walter said there were three self-administered schemes that were due to expire in December. When these expired residents would have the options of buying into a Council-run scheme or having the restrictions removed entirely; however there had not been any indication from residents as to what they would prefer. Neil Walter said the specific case raised by Faye Wessely was being assessed as a stand along case, with the results of the wider residents’ parking scheme across Windsor due to be completed within 18-36 months as it was a medium-term part of the strategy. Responding to a question from Councillor Tisi, Neil Walter added that the review of the active travel plan was still ongoing and had involved a large number of officers.

Resident Brian McCormack raised concerns over the proposed lifting of parking charges on certain days to help Christmas shoppers. He said retailers in Windsor had not been consulted on the proposals and claimed he had been ignored when he had raised the issue with elected members. Additionally he stated his belief there was disparity between Windsor and Maidenhead in terms of the offers of free parking and said Maidenhead was the main beneficiary. Neil Walter explained the free parking concession took into account existing restrictions in place, and that each town manager had been approached to ask for what concessions they felt would be required. Neil Walter said these requests were made to him personally. He added that a final decision had not yet been made and further discussions would take place at Cabinet. Members said they were surprised to hear that town managers had an input into the concession, and stated that it appeared, from an announcement from Councillor Johnson made earlier in the day, that the proposals had been confirmed.

Responding to a point made by Councillor Davey about which car parks the concessions would apply to, Neil Walter said it would be made to those which had the highest rates of usage by Advantage card holders.

Members said they were confused about the announcement over the Christmas parking concession as it had been mentioned it would need to be confirmed along with the Budget and go out to consultation. Councillor Hilton said any spending for the 2022/23 financial year would need to be agreed at the Full Council meeting in February, where the draft Budget would be presented. The discussion taking place at the December Cabinet meeting related to whether or not the proposed parking concession should be included in the draft Budget; if agreed it would then be subject to a full consultation.

Councillor Knowles left the meeting at 8.44pm.

Responding to a question from resident Ed Wilson, Neil Walter said there had been 180,000 individual uses of the RingGo app to pay for parking in the Windsor car parks in the first seven months of the municipal year. The only issues had arisen from users failing to stop their sessions and being overcharged, although it was possible to overturn this if evidence of a genuine error could be provided. Neil Walter explained the system operated differently compared to other boroughs and users had to start and stop their parking session themselves.

Responding to a question from Councillor Price, Neil Walter said there were no plans to introduce charges in car parks where parking was free, but consideration was being given to restricting the length of time vehicles could stay for to, for example, a couple of hours.

Responding to a question from Councillor Davey, Neil Walter said it was not possible to update the parking meter machines to a flat rate per minute, similar to the RingGo app, as there were too many variables that would affect the tariffs. Replying to a question from the Chairman, Neil Walter confirmed King Edward VII Hospital Trust would be ending evening and weekend parking for residents and this would be effective from November 20^th.