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Agenda and minutes
Venue: Multi-Locational Meeting - Penallta House and Via Microsoft Teams. View directions
Contact: Sharon Hughes
Media
No. | Item |
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Recording, Filming and Voting Arrangements. The Chair reminded those present that the meeting was being live-streamed and recorded and would be made available following the meeting via the Council’s website – Click Here to View. Members were advised that voting on decisions would be taken via Microsoft Forms. Additional documents: |
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Apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: |
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Declarations of Interest. Councillors and Officers are reminded of their personal responsibility to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interest(s) in respect of any item of business on this agenda in accordance with the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Code of Conduct for both Councillors and Officers. Additional documents: Minutes: There were no declarations of interest received at the commencement or
during the course of the meeting. |
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Caerphilly County Borough Council Car Parks Task and Finish Group. Additional documents: Minutes: Cath Forbes-Thompson (Scrutiny Manager) presented the report, which
informed the Joint Scrutiny Committee of the findings of the Joint Task and
Finish Group that was established to review car parks managed by Caerphilly
County Borough Council. The Scrutiny
Committee were asked to consider a number of recommendations made by the Task
and Finish Group as set out in Sections 3.2 to 3.6 of the report and determine
its recommendations to Cabinet ahead of its meeting on 21st September 2022. The Joint Scrutiny Committee were advised of the extensive research and
work carried out to inform the findings of the Task and Finish Group, which had
undergone three iterations and had been specifically asked to consider car parking charges that were suspended during the COVID-19
pandemic. The Joint Scrutiny noted details of the
members of the Task and Finish Group which were listed at Sections 5.2 and 5.3
of the report, together with the Group’s terms of reference and methodology
which were detailed in the report at Section 5.4 and agreed “To review town
centre car parking charges in view of the effects of the pandemic on the high
street economy”. The Group agreed
that the focus would be on the main towns in the county borough, namely
Bargoed, Blackwood, Caerphilly, Newbridge, Risca and Ystrad Mynach. When the Group met, they agreed to review
available research, including reports published by Welsh Government containing
information on car parking strategies, and details of these were listed in the
report. The Group also reviewed previous
reports produced by the previous iterations of the Car Park Task and Finish
Group to see previous recommendations and work that had been carried out to
date. The Task and Finish Group agreed to carry out a public survey of
visitors to the main town centres in the county borough
and also agreed a number of questions to be put to the business community in
the town centres. The survey was carried
out and shared via social media and by members of the Task and Finish Group, and
a very good response to the survey was received, with a total of 1545 responses
received. The Group also received narrative comments on individual experiences
since car parking charges were suspended.
A number of questions were also developed by the Group which were shared
through a separate business survey that was distributed by the Business and
Enterprise Renewal Team. The results of these surveys were set out in Section 5 of the report. The Group also reviewed the income and costs
associated with running the car parks, and details of these were set out at
Section 5.8 of the report. It was noted
that these figures reflected the income that was generated before charging was
suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In terms of the conclusions of the Group, they agreed that their priority was to ensure that car parks spaces are available for visitors to the town centres when they are needed. Members therefore suggested two options for the ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |