Minutes to follow

Prior to consideration of Minute 184 (Revised Southend 2050 – Five Year Road Map) the Deputy Leader (Transport, Capital and Inward Investment) made the following statement to Full Council:

‘This new administration is a listening one, and we have heard the concerns of local businesses, residents and visitors in respect of a number of parking issues.

We have therefore given careful consideration to what changes could be made to help alleviate some of these concerns, and I would like to announce that we will be pursuing the four following initiatives as quickly as possible:

2a: Re-instatement of 1-hour parking in town centre car parks

As an administration we want to support the town centre whilst we consider how we implement many of the findings of the joint scrutiny project.

Firstly, we will be re-instating the 1-hour parking band in town centre car parks.

We will be doing this as quickly as possible, but we must of course comply with the necessary formalities, including altering the relevant parking orders, and the subsequent re-configuration of parking meters and changes to signage to reflect the new charges.

We expect this to be in place in October which will support local traders and shoppers in the run up to Christmas.

We estimate there will be a small loss in income of around £25,000 in this financial year which will be met from our contingency budget. However, we believe that this small investment will be worth it given the impact this will have on the vitality of the town centre.

We propose to build this change into next year’s budget.

In addition, the administration will also give consideration to re-introducing the one hour band to other car parks that currently have a two-hour minimum charge, such as Western Esplanade.

2b: To remove charges for non-resident blue badge holders

A decision to charge all non-resident blue badge holders for parking in our car parks was made as part of a previous budget decision.

Cabinet has reviewed this decision and have agreed to reverse this as soon as possible.

We will do this as quickly as possible, but we must of course comply with the necessary formalities, including altering the relevant parking order.

The loss in income is minimal and will be managed within existing budgets.

2c: Engaging of a third party supplier to follow through enforcement of Foreign Vehicles

It has been highlighted to me that the enforcement of Foreign Registered Vehicles has proved difficult as we do not have access to the European Vehicle Database. However; a company has been sourced who work with London boroughs and are willing to work with us. 

The administration will therefore ask officers to engage this company to pursue owners of foreign registered vehicles that commit civil contraventions in Southend-on-Sea on a commission only basis, with no costs to the council.

2d: Additional enforcement officers

We understand that there is an appetite for increased parking enforcement, particularly in the vicinity of schools for example.

In response to this, and to address inconsiderate and dangerous parking, this administration will ask officers to engage with our parking contractor to supply five additional civil enforcement officers up to the end of March 2020.

The net cost of this proposal will be met from the business transformation reserve in 2019/20. We will assess the impact of this initiative and consider it as part of next year’s budget setting.

During consideration of Minute 190 (Notice of Motion – Traveller Incursions) a requisition for a named vote having been made in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12 to refer the matter back to Cabinet, the voting was as follows:

For reference back:

Cllrs Aylen, Boyd, Buck, Burzotta, Cox, Davidson, Dear, F. Evans, K. Evans, Flewitt, Folkard, Garne, Garston, Habermel, Jarvis, McGlone, Moring, Nelson, Salter, Walker and Ward (21)

Against reference back:

Cllrs Beck, Burton, Chalk, Collins, Cowan, Dent, George, Gilbert, Harp, Hooper, Kelly, McDonald, Mitchell, Mulroney, Nevin, Robinson, Shead, Stafford, Terry, Thompson, Wakefield, Wexham, Willis and Woodley (24)

Abstentions:

Cllr Lamb (1)

Absent:

Cllrs Ayling, Borton, Bright, Jones and Van Looy (5)

The motion for reference back was not carried.

During consideration of Minutes 200 and 206 (Reconfiguration of Corporate Management) a motion was proposed and seconded to refer the matter back to Cabinet.

The motion for reference back of Minutes 200 and 206 was not carried.

Resolved:

That the minutes of this meeting be noted and the recommendations contained in Minutes 184, 186, 187, 190, 194, 195, 197, 200 and 206, be approved.