PARKING REVIEW UNDERWAY

A major review of parking charges is to be carried out across Thanet, with the aim of having them in place by June 2012.

The details of the timescale for the scheme were given to Cabinet Members last night (Thursday 2 February) as part of a report that considered limited free parking in Birchington.

It comes after a motion was agreed at Full Council in December 2011, calling on Cabinet to consider providing half an hour’s free parking for on street parking on Station Road and for the Albion Road car park.

The report explained that a parking review, looking at all the fees and charges across Thanet, is already underway. The aim is to look at a new way of charging, which makes it clearer, easier to understand and fair for both residents and visitors.

Meetings have already been held with elected members to get their views and the results from these meetings will be considered by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Panel in early March. It will then to come to Cabinet in late March, before being discussed at Full Council in April. The aim is to go live with the new fees and charges in early June 2012.

Cabinet agreed that the motion from Full Council about having half an hour of free parking in parts of Birchington would be considered further when they looked at the results of the parking review. They also agreed that, as well as District councillors, parish and town councillors should also be asked for their views on the issue.

Cllr. Clive Hart, Cabinet Member for Corporate and Regulatory Services, said: “Obviously the issue of free parking in Birchington has already been considered at Full Council, but we need to look at it in the context of the parking review that’s underway at the moment. That’s looking at a fairer way of charging for parking across the whole of Thanet. Once we’ve got the results of that, we can then consider how to go forward with the issue of parking in Birchington.”