North Yorkshire Council brings together the services previously delivered by eight councils into one unified organisation. This is a significant step forward—one that allows us to build on the county’s natural beauty, strong economy, and resilient communities to improve how services are delivered and to support a high quality of life for everyone.

North Yorkshire is a beautiful, vibrant, and diverse county. It’s widely recognised as a fantastic place to live, work, and visit. But like all councils across the country, we face growing demand for services and tough financial choices. The journey of transformation is far from over, but it presents a real opportunity to shape a better future.

Through our transformation programme, we’re focused on improving efficiency, delivering services more effectively, and joining things up in ways that make sense to residents, businesses, and partners.

Why Parking Matters

Parking affects everyone. For many people, driving is the most practical way to get around. But parking also influences the character of our towns, the quality of our environment, and the success of our local economy. Well-managed parking helps create accessible, welcoming town centres that support local businesses and communities.

That’s why it’s essential for the council to have a clear, consistent approach to parking—one that reflects local needs while aligning with our wider goals. We’re committed to being a council that puts local priorities at the heart of decision-making.

Our Approach to Parking Strategy

The principles outlined here form the foundation for how we’ll manage parking across North Yorkshire. They provide a framework for developing detailed county-wide policies and local town parking strategies.

Next, we’ll create policy papers that explain how these principles will be applied in practice. We’ll also develop town-specific parking strategies, each with its own action plan to deliver real, on-the-ground improvements.

Engagement will be key. We’ll work closely with Councillors, communities, and stakeholders to shape these strategies together. Your views and ideas will help ensure that our approach to parking works for each place and its people.

Looking Ahead

These parking principles are just the beginning. They will guide our work in the years ahead as we continue to improve outcomes for residents, businesses, and communities across North Yorkshire.

Councillor Malcom Taylor

Executive Member for Highways and Transportation

North Yorkshire Council

2 Executive Summary

This set of strategic parking principles has been shaped to help the council to deliver on its Council Plan 2024-2028 and related strategies. It presents four themes, and principles within each of these, that will guide decisions about parking provision and management over the coming years.

Sustainable and attractive places

The Council aims to achieve a clean, environmentally sustainable and attractive place to live, work and visit, that is well-connected and planned with good transport links. To support these aims:

· Parking facilities will aim to provide a good quality, value-for-money service to users across North Yorkshire (Principle 1)

· Given the scale and diversity of the county, the council’s approach will reflect local needs and circumstances, within an overall policy framework that is consistent across the council (Principle 2)

· Traffic congestion, air quality and the availability of other modes of travel will be a key consideration in setting the quantities of parking available, the location, the tariff and the restrictions applied (Principle 3)

· Tariffs will be varied between locations, and between on-street and off-street car parks, ensuring issues such as congestion can be managed effectively (Principle 4)

· The council will support adoption of electric vehicles by providing charging facilities where appropriate, and will pass on the full costs incurred in providing the facility and any energy consumed (Principle 5)

· Existing controlled parking zones will be reviewed and new zones introduced in more areas where appropriate, with the myriad of permits currently available streamlined (Principle 6)

Supporting the economy

The council aims to grow North Yorkshire’s economy, and to have thriving communities and town centres. To support this:

· Parking will be managed so as to support the vitality and attractiveness of town centres, recognising parking arrangements are key to trade (Principle 7)

· Parking incentives to encourage people to visit town centres will be reviewed to ensure a fair approach across the county, and to ensure that they are most effective in supporting town centre businesses (Principle 8)

· The parking estate will be put to its best use across all the council’s needs and goals goals, aiming to protect capacity where there is demand, while also recognising strategic opportunities to support the council’s wider aims (Principle 9)

Delivering good-quality service

The Council seeks to offer good quality, value for money services that are customer focused and accessible to all. To support these aims:

· In addition to reflecting local needs, the council will look to serve differing user needs; the parking offered will be deliberately varied, in terms of tariff, location and service level, to serve different customer requirements and needs (Principle 10)

· Given the major variances in off-street charges inherited by the new council, there needs to be a one-off review of charges to consider their appropriateness (Principle 11)

· Following the one-off exercise, the council will keep rules, tariffs and investment priorities under review on an annual basis to ensure that they continue to meet users’ needs and support the council’s objectives (Principle 12)

· Consistent payment methods (card, cash and app) will be adopted across all car parks to improve customer service, provide data and encourage revenue generation (Principle 13)

· Blue Badge parking is aimed at providing access and proximity. It will be provided and managed in line with observed need. Off-street charges will apply in all cases (Principle 14)

· Enforcement will be bolstered to keep contraventions down to an acceptable level (Principle 15)

· The council will, where appropriate and permitted, seek to work with other parking operators to improve outcomes for users (Principle 16)

· The council may offer to undertake parking management and/or enforcement on behalf of third-party car park owners, where this presents an opportunity to improve consistency or other outcomes for users to, support the achievement of the council’s wider goals~~, or provide additional income~~ (Principle 17)

· Parking for non-car modes (such as motorcycles, cycles, heavy goods vehicles, motorhomes or coaches) will be managed in line with these principles and recognising their particular issues, needs and opportunities (Principle 18)

Financial sustainability

The costs of providing good parking need to be met, either by users or through taxes. And local government faces a challenging financial climate. To reflect this:

· Parking will be managed so as to be financially sustainable, covering the full cost of providing the parking service and capital investment in car parks (Principle 19)

· Where appropriate and permitted, tariffs may also include pricing that reflects the value or quality of the service offered, particularly when lower-price or free alternatives are also available (Principle 20)

3 Parking in North Yorkshire

3.1 A new council delivering services for North Yorkshire

In April 2023, North Yorkshire Council was created to provide all local services previously provided by eight local councils across the county. This includes the parking and highway management responsibilities that were previously split between the former County Council and district councils. At the same time, a York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority was created. This will be responsible for the area’s transport strategy.

Parking, and how it is managed, can affect people’s daily lives. For many, particularly outside the main urban areas, driving is the most practical choice for getting around. For residents, particularly in the larger towns and visitor areas, parking can contribute to, or detract from, quality of life and the attractiveness of their area. And for businesses and the economy, parking is part of the mix in providing accessible, welcoming town centres.

3.2 Parking Principles

These principles set out an overall framework for how the council will approach the strategic development and management of parking throughout North Yorkshire.

The Council Plan 2024-2028 sets out our vision for our county. It provides our key goals and ambitions for the coming years. We are also mindful of the council’s Climate Change Strategy. The principles contained here are written to help deliver those strategic goals and ambitions.

The principles cover both on-street and off-street parking for motor vehicles (primarily cars, but also motorcycles, coaches and goods vehicles) where this is controlled by the council. Cycle and micromobility parking are outside the scope of this document although many of the principles will also apply to these. Some off-street public parking is owned by third parties; the council does not control these sites, but may work together with their owners and may seek to influence their operation and use in line with the principles.

3.3 Putting the principles into practice

These principles will flow through into more specific policies, and strategies for individual locations.

Specific policies will be developed for individual aspects of the parking system, explaining more explicitly how the principles will be applied and implemented.

Parking strategies and action plans for individual towns will also be developed, to identify specific measures and changes for a particular place in line with those policies. They will reflect each location’s own character, needs, issues and opportunities, while remaining in line with the principles and policies, and will be subject to local consultation.

Figure 1 sets out how all of these will collectively provide the parking strategy for North Yorkshire.

Figure 1: How these principles fit within the parking strategy and wider strategy context

This diagram shows the council’s most relevant overarching policies and strategies that feed into the Parking Strategy. Other policies and strategies are omitted for simplicity but may also be relevant considerations.

4 Workstreams for the strategy

Four workstreams have been identified that support delivery of the objectives contained in the Council Plan and other key strategies.

Workstream	Supporting these Council Plan ambitions:	Description
Sustainable and attractive places	A clean, environmentally sustainable and attractive place to live A well connected and planned place with good transport links and digital connectivity	Principles that manage the impact of travel choices, and where appropriate encourage more sustainable choices, in order to improve quality of life. These principles also support the Climate Change Strategy theme of easy, accessible, and affordable low carbon transport to enable active travel, public transport, and electric vehicles
Supporting the economy	Environmentally sustainable growth that enables people and places to prosper Culture, heritage, arts and sustainable tourism all play their part in the economic growth of the county	This workstream consists of those principles that support growth, particularly in town centres and the visitor economy These principles also support the Economic Growth Strategy, particularly its infrastructure ‘pillar’
Delivering good-quality service	Good quality, value for money services that are customer focused and accessible to all	Principles for the level and quality of service that users can expect
Financial sustainability	A well-led and managed, financially sustainable and forward-thinking council	Principles that deliver good financial value, to save money and where appropriate provide resources to support the council’s other priority services

The principles under each workstream are described below. Together these form the Strategic Parking Principles.

5 Sustainable and attractive places

5.1 Overall approach to quality

The Council Plan seeks to offer good quality, value for money services that are customer focused and accessible to all. This applies to parking just as much as any other service.

The parking service will therefore aim to have good physical quality of facilities, be simple to use and have good customer service. The council will invest where appropriate to achieve this. This will include, where practical, more frictionless arrangements such as barrier-free parking (using, for example, drive-in-drive-out account-based payments for frequent users).

Principle 1

Parking facilities will aim to provide a good quality, value-for-money service to users across North Yorkshire.

5.2 Reflecting individual places within a consistent framework

The council will reflect the individual qualities, needs and differences of each location across the vast and diverse county of North Yorkshire, within a coordinated and consistent policy framework. For example, specific rules and tariffs may vary based on local conditions and demand but they will always be within a coherent overall approach.

The council is committed to listening to its communities and supporting local priorities. It will work closely with town and parish councils, wider partners and communities to ensure that local priorities drive locally led decision-making and local action. As set out in section 3.3, therefore, local strategies and action plans will reflect each area’s needs within the overall policy framework, and will be the subject of local engagement and consultation. Local councillors will not just be consulted in their development, but actively involved from the outset.

Principle 2

Given the scale and diversity of the county, the council’s approach will reflect local needs and circumstances, within an overall policy framework that is consistent across the council.

5.3 Managing the distribution of parking demand

The Council Plan seeks to achieve a clean, environmentally sustainable and attractive place to live, work and visit, that is well-connected and planned with good transport links. It supports sustainable transport for all residents, including an effective and efficient public transport network that meets user needs, and encouraging active travel.

However, the rural nature of the county presents a great challenge for transport connectivity. Particularly outside the main urban areas, the reality today is that driving is the most practical choice for many people.

The strategic approach is to accept this reality and to manage less the absolute volume but more the distribution of the resulting parking demand, so that it works most effectively for users and for the places concerned. This includes providing the right sort of parking in the right sort of places for different trip needs. It also includes actively managing charges and restrictions for each location based on its specific conditions, and so that (at a local car park level) demand and supply stay in line with each other. It is important for people to be able to find a parking space when they get there, as spending time circulating until a space becomes available is frustrating and environmentally negative.

Parking locations, restrictions and tariffs will therefore be managed in order to mitigate negative impacts, secure a balance between different needs, enhance quality of life, and ensure the increasing attractiveness of bus travel, walking and cycling. Tariff levels will be used to manage where people park, to deliver a good user experience. People who need to drive will continue to be able to do so.

In areas that are more accessible by sustainable modes of transport, the council may also encourage alternatives to short local driving trips through careful tariff design that provides a ‘nudge’ to users. In some locations, park-and-ride has a valuable role to play in managing congestion, air quality and other impacts that traffic has on communities. The council will look at opportunities to further develop that role.

Some car parks currently operate with limited or no control over the types of use, length of stay or level of occupancy. In some locations this is unproblematic, but in others there can be issues of congestion or undesirable behaviour. Where these issues exist, the council will look at opportunities to address them. This may include considering whether introducing charges would be appropriate after consultation.

On-street and off-street parking have different roles, particularly in town centres and other busy areas where there is pressure on parking space or roadspace. On-street parking offers high levels of access and convenience but can lead to congestion and environmental damage, particularly if demand exceeds the available space. There is a need to avoid users driving around unnecessarily in search of on-street parking in the first instance. In such busy areas, a preferable situation is for users to select an off-street parking location as default and to park on-street only if they have specific need to be close to their destination. Varying the tariff between on-street and off-street can help to encourage this.

Principle 3

Traffic congestion, air quality and the availability of other modes of travel will be a key consideration in setting the quantities of parking available, the location, the tariff and the restrictions applied.

Principle 4

Tariffs will be varied between locations, and between on-street and off-street car parks, ensuring issues such as congestion can be managed effectively.

5.4 Electric vehicles

The council’s Climate Change Strategy 2023-2030 seeks to enable the shift to low carbon vehicles. A strategic approach to electric vehicle (EV) charging points has been developed[1]. This ambitious strategy aims to provide a comprehensive, convenient and accessible network of EV charging point infrastructure across the whole county, serving residents, commuters and visitors. Both on-street and off-street charging points are needed as part of the strategy. In total, over 3,000 charge points are forecast to be required across North Yorkshire by 2030, of which around half will need to be delivered by the public sector[2].

Principle 5

The council will support adoption of EVs by providing charging facilities where appropriate, and will pass on the full costs incurred in providing the facility and any energy consumed.

5.5 Residential and visitor areas

Some residential areas see parking pressure due to the available on-street space being insufficient for the residential parking demand, or for a combination of that demand and commuters or visitors also seeking to park in that area. Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) provide the ability to manage this demand more effectively, so that residential permit-holders can have confidence that space will be available for them. There needs to be a balance between reserving space for residents (or other permit-holders such as businesses or visitors) and not ‘wasting’ it by over-protection. In some cases, therefore, a degree of commuter or visitor parking can also be accommodated in capacity that would otherwise be spare (as is currently done through Disc Zones, for example).

As with any parking facility, circumstances and needs change over time, so existing CPZs should be reviewed periodically to ensure they remain effective in serving today’s needs. This can include reviewing the permitted user groups, forms of control and permit numbers. Parking spaces will be allocated equitably among residents, businesses, and visitors to ensure that all stakeholders have reasonable access to parking facilities. Priority may be given to residents and local businesses to support the community.

Visitor areas are also important to the economy, and parking can support the ‘place’ aspects of North Yorkshire’s emerging Destination Management Plan. In locations with concentrations of hotels and guesthouses, such as parts of Scarborough, there is a particular challenge for the limited on-street parking space to serve both residents’ and visitors’ parking demand. Both types of user are necessary and their needs must be balanced. Heavy usage of on-street parking, particularly where demand exceeds the available capacity, can create traffic in unsuitable locations as well as affecting the visitor experience. Encouraging visitors into off-street parking instead (when not loading or unloading) would help to address this, and may also nudge visitors towards keeping their spend in the local area rather than making a further car trip to somewhere else. Options for encouraging this include offering to exchange an on-street permit for a greater number of off-street permits, making a one-off payment to revoke the option for the hotelier to have permits, or making the on-street permits subject to an escalating charge that reflects the social cost or opportunity cost of parking in that location.

Principle 6

Existing controlled parking zones will be reviewed and new zones introduced in more areas where appropriate, with the myriad of permits currently available streamlined.

6 Supporting the economy

6.1 Supporting town centres

Shopper/visitor parking will usually have priority in town centres and shopping parades. We will aim for commuter parking to be on the edges of town centres, to reduce the traffic driving through these and allow space to be devoted to shopper/visitor parking or enhancements to the town centre. We will also support staff parking provision in a way that maintains availability of convenient parking for shoppers and visitors.

For shoppers and visitors, destinations are chosen because of what the town has to offer and its proximity to the origin; parking costs are a secondary consideration[3]. Surveys in Harrogate and elsewhere have confirmed that parking charges are not what is driving users onto internet shopping[4]. It is the availability and certainty of finding a space, rather than its cost, that is most important to users[5].

Where appropriate, the use of maximum stays will be replaced with escalating tariffs. These will not prevent longer stays; an extended stay in a particular place may be very important to that user on that occasion, but will be designed to discourage long stays in locations that are intended for shorter visits. Surveys in Maldon and Hemsley have indicated that around one in five visitors were curtailing their stay in the town because of parking time limits[6]. Indications from Harrogate are that visitors now able to pay for their off-street parking on return, rather than in advance using pay and display, are staying around 22 minutes longer[7].

While this may mean that the most popular and valuable parking locations become more expensive, alternative lower cost options will be available for those on a budget. Users will be able to choose where they wish to park, based on cost, location and service, and be generally assured that they will be able to do so. This approach removes the frustration, inefficiency and unreliability to people’s schedules arising from a system in which parking areas are frequently full.

Principle 7

Parking will be managed so as to support the vitality and attractiveness of town centres, recognising parking arrangements are key to trade.

As described above, the best parking incentives to support a town centre are to ensure that people can be confident of finding a space, and to encourage people to stay as long as they wish.

Other, more targeted incentives, such as offering free parking periods or seasonal free parking, exist in some locations and are perceived positively. However, they are not offered in all locations and a more consistent approach is desirable.

The approach needs careful consideration in order to operate most effectively. Free parking offers can reduce the ability to manage availability levels and can encourage a ‘rush back’ to the car rather than staying longer and spending more. They can also encourage short local trips by car that could have been made in other ways.

Where free parking (or an element of free parking) is provided as a deliberate incentive, therefore, it will be managed so as to minimise negative consequences and best support these principles. This may include managing its location, length-of-stay, no-return periods, validation arrangements or other factors. It may also include offering users a choice of the best access (at a charge reflecting the value of the space in the impacts of is use) or an alternative free option.

Principle 8

Parking incentives to encourage people to visit town centres will be reviewed to ensure a fair approach across the county, and to ensure that they are most effective in supporting town centre businesses.

6.2 Making best use of the parking estate

The council’s on-street and off-street parking estate represents an extensive, and in some cases strategically important, set of land assets. Its parking function is itself highly valuable in supporting travel needs and managing the impacts of travel patterns. But it also provides opportunities to support the council’s other wider needs and goals, particularly where parking allocation can be adjusted to free-up locations for other purposes.

Although most parking areas and car parks are likely to remain as parking, potential opportunities, depending on the location, might include:

· Enhancing the public realm

· Enabling improvements to active travel facilities

· Providing sites to support town centre economic development

· Providing sites to support delivery of housing

Where such an opportunity is identified, it will be considered on its own merits in that location. Any decisions will be democratically taken, following consultation with the local councillor, and the council’s Property Procedure Rules[8] will be followed.

Principle 9

The parking estate will be put to its best use across all the council’s needs and goals, aiming to protect capacity where there is demand, while also recognising strategic opportunities to support the council’s wider aims.

7 Delivering good-quality service

7.1 Meeting different users’ needs

Requirements for parking differ between users and their needs. For some people or some trips, parking in the ’prime place’ with easiest access to the destination will be highly valuable; others may prefer a more budget-conscious alternative, especially if willing to park-and-stroll.

Principle 10

In addition to reflecting local needs, the council will look to serve differing user needs; the parking offered will be deliberately varied, in terms of tariff, location and service level, to serve different customer requirements and needs.

7.2 Re-balancing and updating

In line with Principles 2 and 3, tariff levels will be set based on local conditions, demand and levels of service using a coherent approach to deliver a good user outcome.

Parking in North Yorkshire currently operates under different sets of restrictions, tariff bands and payment channels, stemming from differences between the predecessor authorities. The approach taken will be rationalised as far as practical, based on these common themes and principles, so that ‘the rules’ are consistent and easily-remembered by users. This will require an initial re-balancing of charges where predecessor authorities have had differing policies, and updating seasonal restrictions to reflect current trends in the visitor economy, and then ongoing annual reviews.

The council is already planning to replace the range of mobile phone parking apps from the predecessor authorities with a single app for the whole of North Yorkshire, when the current arrangements expire in 2025.

After the initial re-balancing, the rules and tariffs should be kept under review to ensure that they continue to meet users’ and the Council’s needs in the light of changing demand levels and needs. An annual reporting and planning cycle, aligned with the Council’s overall business planning and budget cycle, will allow the Council to assess the parking system’s performance and needs, identify investment priorities, and update tariffs as required.

Principle 11

Given the major variances in off-street charges inherited by the new council, there needs to be a one-off review of charges to consider their appropriateness.

Principle 12

Following the one-off exercise, the council will keep rules, tariffs and investment priorities under review on an annual basis to ensure that they continue to meet users’ needs and support the council’s objectives.

7.3 Payment methods

As part of good customer service, the council will seek to offer customers a range of payment methods. The council seeks to be ‘digital by choice’ and this will involve keeping cash payment as an option alongside other methods.

The council will aim to offer this range of methods consistently across North Yorkshire, although there may be occasional exceptions such as where mobile phone signal is not available.

Where practical, the council will adopt more frictionless arrangements such as barrier-free parking (using, for example, drive-in-drive-out account-based payments for frequent users). This is in line with the aim of having a simple-to-use service.

Best practice is nowadays to move away from pay-and-display towards a pay-on-foot or pay-on-exit approach (or equivalent by phone), particularly for off-street parking. Major shopping centres utilise pay on foot, at the end of the shopping trip, as part of their customer offer. Users prefer this as it removes any anxiety about what duration to buy, or about overstaying. It also allows users to stay longer than they initially planned and to continue to spend money in the local economy.

For regular users, automated systems and ‘trusted customer’ accounts can negate the requirement to buy a ticket, remove any restriction or concern about penalty charges, and take away the need to make any payment at the point of use. Such options will also enable capping based on a user’s cumulative activity, and enable users to opt-in to promotions or parking rebates offered by retailers and other commercial destinations.

Principle 13

Consistent payment methods (card, cash and app) will be adopted across all car parks to improve customer service, provide data and encourage revenue generation.

The use of disc clocks, and potential alternatives, will be reviewed. Although they are a straightforward means of indicating time-of-arrival, first-time users need to obtain one and they provide no management data or revenue. Over time they may be replaced by conventional length-of-stay limits or payment machines. This will be considered holistically alongside residents’ and other needs (see section 5.5). The use of scratchcards will also be reviewed, with the possibility of introducing a digital alternative that could minimise abuse.

7.4 Blue badges

The Blue Badge scheme was designed, and continues to have legal standing, for on-street parking only. Its use in off-street car parks is a concession to assist those with mobility needs.

Many local authorities charge for Blue Badge parking. The designated parking spaces are to afford users the best access and proximity, not to provide or imply an inability to pay for the parking used.

The Council will maintain an approach to charges for Blue Badge parking consistent with the overarching policy approach to tariffs. It will also remain mindful that charged-for parking removes the financial incentive for those ineligible for a badge to use or acquire one. This improves availability of the disabled bays provided for those with real access needs.

It is important that the integrity and community respect given to Blue Badge parking bays for use by those that need them is maintained. To this end the Council will monitor use so that evident over-provision is adjusted down commensurate with actual demand[9].

Where demand is excess to supply, options to increase provision will be explored. There may be additional demand for Blue Badge parking provision, which will be set and adjusted over time, based on observed need.

Principle 14

Blue Badge parking is aimed at providing access and proximity. It will be provided and managed in line with observed need. Off-street charges will apply in all cases.

7.5 Enforcement

Enforcement of parking restrictions is important to ensure that the system and individual restrictions are working as intended and delivering the benefits they are designed to bring. Allowing people to ignore the rules is also unfair on those who follow the rules.

The council will therefore determine a reasonable and cost-effective level of compliance to aim for (which may vary by location or type of contravention) and will manage the level of enforcement so as to achieve that goal.

Principle 15

Enforcement will be bolstered to keep contraventions down to an acceptable level.

Pay-on-foot or pay-on-exit payment systems (see section 7.3) have the advantage that length-of-stay is self-enforcing. This frees-up enforcement resources.

7.6 Working with other organisations

Some public car parking in the council’s area is operated by town or parish councils or other third parties. There can be opportunities to work with these operators to improve consistency, flexibility for users, or other beneficial outcomes (without engaging in anti-competitive behaviour which is prohibited by law).

Principle 16

The council will, where appropriate and permitted, seek to work with other parking operators to improve outcomes for users.

The operational side of the parking service, including both enforcement and asset management functions, is a professional service with local reach backed up by the benefits of scale, and has the credibility associated with being a public-sector service. There may be opportunities to harness this by offering to provide similar services for other car park owners.

Principle 17

The council may offer to undertake parking management and/or enforcement on behalf of third-party car park owners, where this presents an opportunity to improve consistency or other outcomes for users to , support the achievement of the council’s wider goals~~, or provide additional income.~~.

7.7 Other motorised and non-motorised modes

Parking for modes other than cars represents particular and sometimes localised challenges. For example, motorcycle parking has traditionally been free of charge, in part because traditional pay-and-display tickets cannot be securely displayed, but technology can now get round this. There is demand for motorhome parking in visitor areas and this is sometimes problematic where suitable or dedicated facilities are not provided. Similarly, coach parties are potentially an important source of economic income; coach parking can be difficult to accommodate in busy town centres but the council will encourage coach access in locations where it can be accommodated.

There is also a national shortage of heavy goods vehicle overnight parking, which in turn can affect local amenity as well as being a risk to an industry on which much of the economy depends.[10]

Principle 18

Parking for non-car modes (such as motorcycles, cycles, heavy goods vehicles, motorhomes or coaches) will be managed in line with these principles and recognising their particular issues, needs and opportunities.

8 Financial sustainability

The legal framework differs between on-street and off-street parking. Councils are the sole provider of on-street parking and are not legally allowed to seek to raise revenue from on-street parking beyond what is needed to support the parking service and deliver wider transport or environmental goals. Off-street parking is potentially a competitive marketplace in which third parties can also operate, and councils have more options for their approach to revenue generation.

8.1 Rationale for charges

The cost of providing good parking goes beyond what is spent to empty the machines and operate enforcement. Other operational costs include making sure a car park remains safe, is lit, cleaned, resurfaced, repainted, has its landscaping and foliage managed, and has significant structural renewal work completed when required. Car parks are also subject to rates. Land used for parking may be held on a lease, or otherwise have a rental value.

Where not covered by users, all these costs are met by taxes. This represents a subsidy to motorists.

Furthermore, land used for car parking may not present the best return for the Council. There is an opportunity cost if the site could earn more for the Council if it was used in another way.

In the same way that bus users pay a commercial fare for their journey to cover all the operator’s costs, the Council will establish a baseline parking charge (as a collective amount across the estate) that ensures the full costs of providing parking are covered. This will include not only operating costs but also the capital investment required to keep parking assets in a state of good repair in line with good asset-management practice.

In line with the principle of providing good customer service, and to keep pace with users’ expectations, the council may invest in enhancements to parking facilities or services. These may need to be funded wholly or partly through increasing charges to the users, commensurate with the extra value offered.

Principle 19

Parking will be managed so as to be financially sustainable, covering at least the full cost of providing the parking service and capital investment in car parks.

Other charges may also be applied to the baseline parking charge where these support Council policies. These may include further charges applied to manage use of town centre roads or ensure availability.

Principle 20

Where appropriate and permitted, tariffs may also include pricing that reflects the value or quality of the service offered, particularly when lower-price or free alternatives are also available.

Appendix A Notes and references