Residents Oppose Plan To Scrap Light-Touch Parking In Brighton & Hove

A proposal to turn light-touch parking schemes into full parking zones has been shelved after overwhelming opposition to the idea.

The results of a six-week consultation have yet to be presented councillors but a senior Labour member of Brighton and Hove City Council said that he and his colleagues were listening.

Councillor Trevor Muten told the council’s Transport and Sustainability Committee yesterday (Tuesday, February 6) at Hove Town Hall that there had been “a very clear steer from residents”.

Outside the meeting Councillor Muten said that a detailed report on the consultation responses would be brought before a future meeting of the committee.

The consultation covered zone W, in Wish ward, zone U, the Coombe Road area, zone S, in Hanover and Elm Grove, zone P, in the Hove Park area, and zone L, in West Hove.

Councillor Muten told the meeting that he wanted to thank “the many residents of the five light-touch parking zones across the city for giving such a clear and unambiguous response in the recent public consultation on parking in these areas”.

He said:

“When we came to office, our Labour administration spotted that there was a presumption built into the February 2023 budget that all light-touch parking zones would be changed to 8am to 8pm restricted parking, with a plan for a five-year programme of public consultation asking residents in each zone in turn the same question for the remaining duration of our administration.

“This meant that a major budgetary decision was built on a questionable presumption that residents would choose to move to a new scheme.

“We found this unacceptable and, having pledged to be a listening council, we were very keen to find out what residents actually preferred before proceeding further.

“The approval to go ahead with parking consultations in five zones was agreed at this committee in October and consultation took place in December and January.

“In all zones, there was good public engagement and a very clear steer from residents that the February 2023 budget presumption under the previous Green administration was plain wrong.

“Having listened to feedback from residents and small businesses on converting light-touch parking schemes to full schemes, I am pleased that, as a result, we recommend not to implement the proposed changes in parking zones P, L, U, W and S.

“Furthermore, Labour propose to halve the tariff increase as set out in the public consultation for all light-touch parking zones. You said. We did.”

A city-wide parking review is currently under way, which Councillor Muten said aims to make parking “simpler, fairer, more accessible and inclusive”.

Full-year and six-month permit prices in areas with light-touch parking schemes are due to go up by about 25 per cent, with a similar rise for visitor permits.

The cost of a 180-day permit for a vehicle with standard emissions is expected to rise from £69.80 to £88.20.

A 365-day permit for a vehicle with standard emissions is expected to increase from £131.40 to £164.25.

Both types of permit attract a discount for low-emission vehicles and a surcharge for those with high emissions.

The Labour-dominated committee backed a raft of increases in fees and charges which will form part of the budget proposals to go before the full council later this month.