To comment on the Cabinet report.

Councillor D. Evans introduced the report to Members and stated that with their support, the Council would be able to provide a new car park in Maidenhead by 202. He added the car park was a central piece in a jigsaw to deliver more parking in the Town Centre of Maidenhead as promised.

The site was occupied by businesses which vacated at the end of 2017 so it was now part of the plan for parking in Maidenhead. Last year, a paper came to Panel asking for a budget of £12m to provide mainly temporary car parking in Maidenhead. The proposals within the report were better as it would mean a reduction in temporary parking and the £8m that was originally earmarked for temporary parking could now be put towards permanent parking with some additional funding being received from the LEP. The funding would not only pay for permanent parking but, would also see 60 temporary spaces being made at Clyde House while the permanent car park was being built.

Councillor D. Evans stated he expected work to begin in the last quarter of 2018 and for the car park to be completed by January 2020. A planning application would be submitted for Broadway car park which would follow the completion of Vicus Way car park. Broadway car park and Vicus Way car park would give the Borough substantially more parking in the centre of Maidenhead. Councillor D. Evans said he had ensured at no point would there be a reduction in parking during the redevelopment of Maidenhead and the proposals in the report made sure that happened.

The Chairman stated he was involved in the discussions on temporary parking in the Town. The Panel was critical of those proposals so the new proposals were welcomed, it was a much better solution. Councillor D. Evans responded the original proposals contained a lot of temporary parking as the site had not been available at Vicus Way. Officers had worked very hard to obtain the site.

The Chairman stated having parking for a wider transport strategy was a good plan. Greater accessibility would generate income for businesses so it was a great investment for the Borough. The Borough had a transport strategy and he felt the Borough had a good balance between public transport and cars. He did however, query the size of the parking spaces as to why they were quite large. The Executive Director responded the spaces contractors had opted for were generous as they were more attractive for people to use. In response to questions as to why ANPR cameras were not being used, the Executive Director stated the market advice was that they were not a sensible route to go down.

Councillor Quick stated there had been mention of a busy car park in Windsor being expanded. Councillor D. Evans stated that was still going ahead at the River Street car park. Councillor Hunt commented the proposals were really great and she was pleased at not having the huge expenditure on temporary parking. She added that the Vicus Way car park was not a Town Centre location, it was quite a way out of the Town Centre and there would be parents with buggies that would have to walk quite a way to get into town. Therefore, it should be listed as a Town car park but not a Town Centre car park. The Executive Director stated the Council saw the car park as fulfilling the needs of businesses and commuters. He added he would take Councillor Hunt’s comments on board and would look at the phrasing.

Councillor D. Evans confirmed the Broadway car park was not being demolished until after the Vicus Way car park had opened. People would need to be moved out of the Hindes Meadow car park and would need to use either Vicus Way or some temporary parking at the Landing site where parents and disabled people could be given priority to park. An event had been held to engage with local residents and businesses about the plans for parking and overall, people were very supportive of the proposals.

Councillor Hunt queried if the project contingency was the full contingency for the whole project. The Executive Director stated there were no highways works risks for the project. There were lots of amber risks because the application had not gone through the planning process yet. He added that the budget was 75% market tested so it was a very robust budget. The £250k contingency budget covered everything but, if there were some highways works required, they would come from a different budget. In terms of unforeseen underground conditions, the site had been cleared to make a temporary car park already, therefore, it was unlikely anything unforeseen would be found. The Chairman stated he had found the risk register very helpful and he was very impressed with the work that had been carried out by officers with great transparency. Councillor D. Evans stated a governance arrangements structure chart had also been included in the report and he commended the Executive Director and officers for including the governance structure to ensure robust checks and balances were in place as the risk register was a moving document. Councillor Quick stated it might be helpful to add a legend to decipher the acronyms within the report. The Executive Director confirmed he would look at that.

Members endorsed the recommendations and requested the following amendment: that the report amend the phrasing that the car park is a town car park and not a town centre car park.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Members endorsed the recommendations and requested the following amendment: that the report amend the phrasing that the car park is a Town car park and not a Town Centre car park.