Decision details

1.Background.
1.1.Phase one of the off-street parking review and the introduction of an off-street parking strategy seeks to explore the tariff structures of all Town Centre parking places which fall within the Crawley Borough Council Off-Street Parking Places Order. The applicable sites within the remit of Phase one are Town Hall Multi-Storey Car Park, Orchard Street Multi-Storey Car Park, Kingsgate Multi-Storey Car Park, and Orchard Street Surface Car Park.
1.2.The scope of the phase one review is to understand more fully the role of our Town Centre Parking Place which include income generation which supports wider delivery of the council’s functions and supporting the economic vitality of the Town Centre.
1.3.The overarching principle of phase one is to explore the sites individually, assessing what attracts users to that area of the borough and ensuring that the tariff structure is designed in such a way that it attracts customers from our parking place competitors in the same or close by locations. The aim to is focus less on generating income through tariffs, and instead focussing on increasing the volume of parking occasions through an attractive and competitive offer.
1.4.Whilst generating income from car parks is recognised as an important activity for Council budgets, the Council also plays a role as custodians of the public realm and needs to ensure that town centre assets are used appropriately to support the economic vitality of the area.
1.5.The Borough’s Town Centre Multi-Storey Car Parks have been upgraded to provide a more secure offer using ANPR technology which also reduces the need for physical enforcement activity to take place within the structures. The sites are also now accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This 24/7 model is a unique offer for secure parking in the Town Centre, with the closest commercial competitor closing their site overnight.
1.6.Since 2020, parking behaviour has changed significantly and due to hybrid working and less overall footfall in public places, this is unlikely to ever return to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, occupancy rates in the sites have reduced across the estate, which has in turn, resulted in a reduction of income generated by the sites.
1.7.Traditionally, fees and charges for the sites has increased by inflation year or year with the last revision to tariffs being completed in late 2021. As a result, there is a disjointed offer which no longer correlates with the surrounding environment factored into the charges i.e., residential units, retail offer or the night-time economy.
1.8.The introduction of an evening surcharge has also proved to be confusing for customers and has generated negative feedback, from users of all three MSCPs who pay higher tariffs if arriving in the car parks before 6pm and expecting to pay an evening rate.
1.9.Due to low levels of occupancy at Kingsgate Car Park, a festive charging period was trialled from December 2022 which introduced a flat rate £2.50 to use the space, regardless of length of stay between 00:00 and 23:59. This saw a sharp increase in occupancy and did not adversely affect the usage of other CBC parking places. It has therefore been deemed that this trial attracted customers from our biggest commercial competitor in the Town Centre, County Mall. The trail has continued into 2023 with an increase in revenue by around 100% when compared with the previous monthly average.
1.10.The data gathered from this trial has indicated that customers will choose price over convenience and therefore, in order to create sustainable levels of occupancy at our parking places, our tariff structure needs to reflect the needs of our customers and be designed to support the surrounding environment.
1.11.This report aims to set a framework for managing car parks and tariff setting. When reviewing the tariff policy in the town centre car parks, and to make the below recommendations; the following factors were taken into consideration:
•Who are the customers and why are they using the site?
•What is the nearby offer i.e., retail, night-time economy, businesses, residential?
•What is the current parking behaviour and lengths of stay?
•Who are the sites competitors, and how do we compete?
2.Orchard Street Surface Carpark – Proposed Fees
2.1.Background
2.1.1.Adjacent to Orchard Street MSCP is a 44-space surface car park, with a charging regime between 7am – 7pm seven days a week. Recognising that this location does not provide security or ANPR, the current charging regime is:
•£2.10 – up to 2 hours
•£2.70 – Up to 3 hours
•£3.80 – Up to 12 hours
•£1.10 – Weekend Charge
2.1.2.Without ANPR there is not as much rich usage data available, but headline transactions indicate that the up to 2 hours and all-day charges are the most popular.
2.1.3.However, this car park is close to night-time economy businesses and currently provides free parking after 7pm. This is due to coincide with the operational hours of the enforcement team, but that does not limit the chargeable hours that could be in operation.
3.Recommendations:
3.1.1.Introduce a revised, differential tariff structure for extended parking hours between 7am – 10pm to capture currently free parking behaviour for those visiting local amenities.
3.1.2.Introduce new charges that are more in line with the MSCP tariffs but recognising that this is a surface car park location.
3.1.3.Revised tariffs:
•£2.50 - Up to 3 hours
•£4.50 – All day
4.Rationale
4.1.1.This new pricing structure recognises the proximity to the town centre and night-time economy whilst also supporting short and longer stay usage, but for a longer period and recognises that there is no ANPR or additional security on site.
4.1.2.The extended charging hours would be on the understanding that between 6 – 10pm no regular enforcement would take place, and the site would be self-enforcing.

Option 2: Introduce a revised, differential tariff structure for extended parking hours between 7am – 10pm to capture currently free parking behaviour for those visiting local amenities.
Introduce new charges that are more in line with the MSCP tariffs but recognising that this is a surface car park location.
Revised tariffs:
•£2.50 - Up to 3 hours
•£4.50 – All day.
Decision made in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change on 09/01/2024.

Option 1: Do nothing.
This option is not recommended as it does not meet the aims outlined in the report and the current tariff structure does not meet the needs/behaviours of our customers.
Option 2: Proceed as proposed.
This option is recommended as it meets the needs/behaviours of our customers and seeks to increase usage and commercial competitiveness of parking provision within the Town Centre.