Welsh council approves plans to make SUV drivers pay more for parking

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Cardiff council has become the first local authority in the UK to approve plans to impose higher parking charges on drivers of large vehicles.

The council’s cabinet members approved plans for a new city parking plan at a meeting on Thursday, October 16.

The plans will see new parking rules introduced across Cardiff in an attempt to reduce commuter parking, encourage more sustainable modes of transport and improve air quality.

It will take time for the changes to be implemented with the scheme set to be phased over a period of 10 years.

‘Saturated’

Cardiff Council’s cabinet member for climate change, strategic planning, and transport, Cllr Dan De’Ath, said the council was bringing forward the parking plan because “large parts of our inner city are absolutely saturated with cars”.

He said the surcharge is aimed at big “American-style” SUVs that are “much larger than your average car”, adding that the chances of a child dying is “grossly inflated” if they are hit by a vehicle of this size.

Cllr De’Ath added: “We don’t think it is unreasonable for drivers of those vehicles to have to pay a little more.”

The leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, said he hopes the new parking rules will help residents in areas closer to the city centre who are affected by high levels of commuter traffic .

He added: “We are saying use the cars that exist within the city centre rather than impacting some of our poorest areas.”

Improving transport

The council leader went on to say any remaining revenue made from the implementation of the city parking plan will be put towards improving transport in Cardiff.

There has been some criticism of the council’s new parking plan with students, businesses, and community groups fearing the impact it could have on their lives.

Opposition councillors have also raised concerns about the plan with Liberal Democrats leader at Cardiff Council Cllr Rodney Berman saying some of the residents he represents have found the proposals confusing.

He added there were “an awful lot of questions” remaining about the plan and said he and others were “not getting the answers to all of them unfortunately”.

Leader of the Conservatives group at Cardiff Council, Cllr John Lancaster, accused the council of hypocrisy over its proposed surcharge for larger vehicles.

Cllr Lancaster questioned the “arbitrary” figure Cardiff Council had gone for in deciding to charge vehicles with a revenue weight of 2,400kg and added: “A vehicle is either safe or it isn’t.”

He also went on to raise concern about the potential impact the parking plan could have on city centre businesses.

The councillor said the measures would “make it harder for people to access the city centre” and questioned whether it could be “another nail in the coffin” for retail on the high street.

‘SUV tax’

Andrew RT Davies, Conservative Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central and former Welsh party leader, said the proposals of the Labour-run council amounted to an “SUV tax”.

He said: “This is Labour’s latest crusade in their war on motorists, following hot on the heels of the 20mph policy.

“So-called progressive activists may think we can cycle everywhere but that isn’t the reality for those of us who live outside metropolitan centres.

“These latest anti-car proposals show how out of touch the political class are.”

A key element of the council’s plan will involve a surcharge being imposed on oversized and highly-polluting vehicles like SUVs.

Weight

In terms of which vehicles could be affected a council report on the parking plan states the local authority is proposing a surcharge for vehicles over 2,400kg in revenue weight.

It also states that in time this would be reduced to 2,000kg for non-electric vehicles.

Vehicles over 3,500kg in revenue weight will not be entitled to permits.

Another important element of the city parking plan will see Cardiff split into into different parking management areas (PMAs).

These would be the city and civic centre area, the inner area, and the outer area.

Each area will be subdivided into controlled parking zones (CPZs).

The PMAs would work as follows:

City and civic centre area

⦁ Parking will be prioritised for blue badge holders, taxis, buses, and deliveries

⦁ Parking controls will apply all day every day

⦁ There will be no residential parking permits for this area and any existing ones will be phased out when the holder moves property

⦁ Loading will only be allowed in designated bays or areas

Inner area

⦁ Parking will mainly be a mixture of permit holder only bays, short stay pay and stay only bays, and short stay shared-use bays

⦁ At a minimum parking controls in this area will apply from 8am to 10pm every day

⦁ Parking permits will continue to be issued for residents, students, community premises, and visitors

⦁ Businesses will continue not being entitled to parking permits

⦁ Loading on most routes will be prohibited between 8am and 10pm every day

Outer area

⦁ Parking will mainly be a mixture of permit holder-only bays, short stay shared use pay and stay bays, and short stay shared-use limited waiting bays

⦁ The days and times of parking controls to be implemented in each zone will be determined following consultation with communities

⦁ The proposed hours for parking controls include 8am to 10, 8am to 8.30pm, and 8am to 6.30pm

⦁ All permit types will be available in the parking zones here

⦁ Loading on most key routes will be prohibited during peak times

A total of 6,381 people responded to the council’s consultation on the city parking plan.

Since then the plan has been updated to include a number of changes like certain student only properties remaining eligible for parking permits.

However these properties will have their visitor permit allowance halved.

The most controversial proposals based on the council’s data on its consultation were no parking permits for city centre residents, the extension of restricted parking hours in the inner city area, and the proposal for business and trade permits to only be issued for parking zones in the outer area.

Some of the other changes Cardiff Council made to its original proposal include:

⦁ Cutting the number of PMAs from four to three, combining the originally proposed Bay PMA with the outer PMA

⦁ Changing the operational days and times for parking controls in the outer PMA to be dependent on local conditions subject to further consultation

⦁ Greater flexibility to residents for purchasing visitor permits

⦁ Community permits, educational permits, and essential service parking permits will be issued

⦁ The proposed inner zone will be reduced in size to correspond with the historic central parking zone with eligibility criteria for permits being revised to support businesses

If the council approves the plans the local authority’s governing traffic regulation order (TRO) will need to be updated and another consultation will go out before changes can be implemented.

Costs associated with parking permits and other tariffs will be consulted on as part of the this TRO process.

The move will increase the cost of parking permits for owners of SUVs (sports utility vehicles) or cars weighing more than 2,400kg.