Parking income from residential permits with supplementary questions

2.10   Connétable J.M. Refault of St. Peter of the Minister for Transport and Technical Services regarding residential parking spaces and the annual parking income which could be derived where Residential Permits not in place.

Would the Minister advise Members of all the roads his department administers in the Parish of St. Helier that have residents' parking areas, the number of residential parking spaces on each road, and what would be the annual parking income from these spaces if residential parking permits were not in place?

Deputy K.C. Lewis (The Minister for Transport and Technical Services):

The Parish of St. Helier 's resident parking zones or R.P.Z.s take 2 forms. The first type are those that are dedicated to the use of residents 24 hours a day and the second type are those which can only be used by residents overnight between the hours of 5.00 p.m. and 9.00 a.m., reverting to general paycard use during the working day. The number of R.P.Z. spaces on States main roads are as follows: Stopford Road, 5 evening only and 23 all day spaces; St. Mark's Road, 12 evening and 28 all day spaces; Victoria Street, 6 evening and 3 all day; Val Plaisant, 2 evening spaces; Gloucester Street, 6 evening only; Devonshire Place, 5 evening and 5 all day spaces; Canon Street, 6 evening and 14 all day; Kensington Place, 8 evening and 14 all day spaces. The total of these provides 50 evening places and 77 dedicated all day residents' parking spaces. The annual income for the 77 all day spaces, should they be charged at one unit per hour at paycard rates, is estimated to be between the range of £72,000 and £90,000, depending on occupancy levels. R.P.Z.s, including Parish and States roads, the total number of R.P.Z. spaces are 423 with 173 paycard spaces that become R.P.Z.s overnight.

1. The Connétable of St. Peter :

The very complex answer the Minister gave to an oral question I would ask if he would mind circulating that so that we could absorb that somewhat better. My main question is does the Minister intend to do something about redressing loss of income to the States?

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

Yes, I am more than happy to circulate that to Members and loss of income is something we are looking into.

2. Deputy R.G. Le Hérissier:

Could the Minister confirm that among that detailed procedure he outlined, will he be simplifying it by organising a lottery based on postcodes?

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

I thank Deputy Le Hérissier for raising this question. I thought 1st April came early when I saw this story, that people will be told where to park and how much to pay, which is not the case. It was an idea that was formulated about 5 years ago to encourage people coming from the West to park in Pier Road and people coming from the East to park on the eastside of town. No one will be told where to park and how much to pay. I am not sure where the story came from, but it is complete nonsense. Given the parameters of the Roads Regulations and Car Park Regulations, people may park wherever they wish. I will not be dictating anything of the sort. I work for the people of Jersey and not the other way around.

3. Deputy J.A. Martin:

I thought it was a very good idea, especially with some people of St. Peter , and they pay double to anyone else because the clue is in the question. This is residents' parking in town and we do not have anywhere to park and the Minister for Transport and Technical Services does need to come up with some good ways. The Constable of St. Peter , does the Minister not agree, to decide that the residents in town have already lost another 200 spaces last week and his vote did not help, should not be penalised, and we should be looking at those out-of-towners bringing their big 4-wheelers in and trying to park all day.

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

I am delighted that the Deputy is aware that most cars have 4 wheels. [Laughter] I think the Deputy meant 4 by 4s. Not everyone has a 4 by 4. It is pretty scattered across the Island. We are looking at other parking arrangements. My  officers  are  constantly  looking at ways to accommodate people. The bus service obviously has been mentioned. We are trying to beef that up but we have also got Snow Hill, which incidentally I got accused of having a second speech the other day, was I was told by this Assembly an amendment to the Sustainable Transport Policy and the Island Plan to bring forward plans for Snow Hill and that is what I have done. The request was to bring it back by 2012 and I was 2 months late, which I apologise for, but there it is. We are looking at every space we can.

The Deputy Bailiff :

May I say to Members that the question is about residents' parking areas. We are not talking about car parks generally if that is any help.

4. The Connétable of St. John :

Who gets the income from the residents' parking? Who maintains the roads when there is damage done caused through leaking oil from engines when it breaks up the asphalt? [Aside]

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

Obviously if it is a States road, the States pay for it. If it is a Parish road, the Parish pays for it. The income from the residents' parking zone goes to the Parish of St. Helier , which I believe pays for their own parking wardens which they have patrolling the R.P.Z.s.

[10:45]

5. Deputy G.P. Southern :

Would the Minister confirm that prior to the introduction of residential parking by his department, the parking spaces were disc parking and therefore generated no income?

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

To a great extent, I believe that is correct.

6. The Connétable of St. Martin :

I think some of it has been covered but could the Minister just confirm that the actual parking control officers do not police any of the parking areas in the administration of the road, just repair of the road surface? All the money that comes in goes to the Parish and the parking control officers do not police residents' parking zones.

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

That is correct.

7. The Connétable of St. Helier :

Is the Minister aware of any greenfields in the Parish of St. Peter which the Constable might be persuaded to try to get approval for under the radar, as it were, to assist St. Helier with its parking problems?

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

I am aware that the good Constable of St. Peter has a large car park with an airport attached but other than that, I am not aware of any other greenfields.

8. Deputy J.A. Hilton of St. Helier :

Does the Minister not agree with me that if we are to encourage people to move into St. Helier and live in St. Helier that the question of affordable parking and easy access to parking is one that should be given the utmost consideration? Most people who live outside of St. Helier have got easy access to parking outside of their homes if indeed they have not got yellow lines outside them and it is only fair for St. Helier residents that they are treated in the same way.

Deputy K.C. Lewis :

To a great extent, I would agree. Not only that, I have a very large yellow line outside of my own house which is in St. Saviour but we have to design this in. Obviously the Minister for Housing is aware of this and likewise the Minister for Planning and Environment to provide adequate space when new houses are built.  We cannot just provide on street car parking everywhere because we have obviously got a very old town, everything is retrofitted, and we cannot build new spaces without knocking old ones down but we provide as much as we can.

9. The Connétable of St. Peter :

Somewhat tongue in cheek: does the Minister intend to provide roads in the rural Parishes which will allow free parking and leave monies to come back to the rural Parishes?

The Deputy Bailiff :

Very well, he has answered the question for you, Minister. [Laughter]