Town centres on-street parking order
This consultation has concluded
Parking – Changes to tariffs and charging policies.
Introduction
We regularly review and revise all charges and policies as part of our ongoing cycle of budget management, to allow for rising costs and inflation, and ensure that we can continue to provide services to residents and businesses.
We are giving notice that, with the consent of Hertfordshire County Council (where applicable), we propose to amend parking tariffs and make changes to existing and new parking places in parts of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Apsley and Kings Langley as specified in the following consultations:
- On-Street Parking Places Amendment Order
The effect of these Orders is to make the following changes:
On-Street Amendment Order
- Changes to the restricted hours, maximum stay, and no return periods for existing ‘Pay to Park’ bays and ‘Limited Wait’ bays, as well as introduce charging into some ‘Limited Wait’ bays. The proposed changes for ‘Pay to Park’ bays and ‘Limited Wait’ bays are set out in the consultation.
We have previously undertaken informal consultation on these proposals with residents and businesses. Further information can be found on our website.
Informal consultation on these proposals has also been carried out with Statutory Consultees, including The Police, Emergency Services, Freight Transport Association, and the Road Haulage Association. No objections were raised.
Why are we doing this?
Parking fees across the Borough were last increased in 2019. Over this period, inflation has increased by 28%. The proposed changes will bring our tariffs in line with the cost of inflation. Further reviews will be carried out on a more regular basis to ensure tariffs keep pace with the costs of delivering these services.
Whilst we continue to work hard to become even more efficient and reduce running costs where possible, we also need to take decisions on increases to charges and fees to ensure we can continue to balance our budgets and provide essential and discretionary services to our residents.
The proposed parking charges are still lower than public sector averages, and local private sector parking charges. The set of proposals to changes to parking fees and charges has been carefully considered to ensure they are fair and proportionate. They will allow us to continue to offer competitive pricing locally for parking and visits to our town and neighbourhood centres.
- The maximum stay times within the parking bays will be amended in alignment with the change in pricing as part of these proposals, in order to ensure that the bays remain enforceable.
- The conversion of the existing parking bays to ‘Pay to Park’ bays and reduction in the maximum stay time for free ‘Limited Wait’ bays is designed to increase the turnover of parking on the streets in question. They will free up spaces for potential customers seeking to utilise the businesses on the roads and encourage them to park there for a small fee.
- The new ‘Pay to Park’ bays and ‘Limited Wait’ bay timings will also encourage the use of sustainable modes of transport to access the town centres within the borough.
What is proposed: Full proposals
You can read the full proposals presented to Cabinet on 13 February 2024. This report gives more information on the reasons for these proposals, and how the tariff changes will support the Council in how it serves its residents.
Objections
This consultation is not the same as the informal consultation that was previously undertaken which sought responses from residents and/or businesses in helping to shape the proposed changes to parking tariffs and policies.
This consultation clearly sets out our position and any objections to these proposals (including the grounds on which the objections are based) should be made via the ‘Objections Form', or, if objectors do not have online access, at any of the offices listed below. The deadline for the receipt of objections is 31 July 2024.
Representations of support will also be received during this time.
Equalities Impact Assessment
We have completed an initial Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for these proposals. The EqIA identifies and examines in more detail what positive and negative impacts these proposals may have on individuals with protected characteristics together with our equality objectives and how we propose to mitigate any negative impacts.
The impacts and mitigations described within the EqIA will be considered as part of the decision-making process on the proposals. The EqIA will be kept under review and updated to reflect any relevant new information, including information which comes in as part of the consultation process.
A copy of the full initial EqIA document can be found in Appendix 3 of the Cabinet Report.
How you can find out more
Electronic copies of the proposed Orders, statements of reasons for proposing to make the Orders and drawings showing more detailed particulars of the proposals are available for inspection in the documents section on this page until the end of six weeks from the date on which the Order is made or, as the case may be, the Council decides not to make all or part of the Orders.
Documents may also be inspected at the offices of the Council during normal office hours, at the following locations:
- The Forum, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP1 1DN, or
- Berkhamsted Civic Centre, 161 High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, HP4 3HD or
- Victoria Hall, Akeman Street, Tring, HP23 6AA.
General enquiries relating to the proposal should be referred to the Traffic Management Team at ADL Traffic and Highways Ltd (Tel: 01454 332100).
Consulting on this scheme is a statutory duty of the Borough Council. Data from this consultation will be collected and held and processed by ADL Traffic and Highways Ltd and Dacorum Borough Council and may be shared with DBC Officers and Borough Councillors. The data will be used to produce a consultation report and to provide feedback to Councillors. Individual respondents will not be identified in the consultation report without permission. The consultation report will be a public document. View Dacorum Council’s privacy policy.
What happens next?
Once consultation ends on 31 July 2024, we will consider all the responses received and prepare a consultation report.
The consultation report will help us reach a decision about whether, and how we make changes to tariffs and charging policies.
The report will be available to everyone that takes part in the consultation and a copy will be published on our website.
A report on responses to the survey will be made publicly available after the consultation has closed. Personal information will be kept confidential and will not be included in the consultation report. Your personal information will be properly safeguarded and processed in accordance with the requirements of privacy and data protection legislation. For further information, please visit our privacy policy.