The Head of Environment and Leisure introduced the report which set out the public consultation results from the survey around overnight parking at Shingle Bank, Minster and Shellness, Leysdown and identified some possible solutions based on the results of the consultation.

The Chair invited a visiting Ward Member to speak on the item.

The Ward Member referred to the number of complaints and issues the shingle bank had caused for the local residents on the Isle of Sheppey. He said that the restrictions had not always been enforced over the years but thanked officers for listening to the public opinion with regard to the next steps. He proposed that the committee agreed to a charge for overnight parking set at £15 per night, from 8 pm - 8 am and that all vehicles should be charged, with a ban on caravans. The Ward Member suggested an annual review of the charges and asked if the officers could carry out the works required before the summer holidays commenced.

A visiting Member spoke on the item and agreed with the outcome of the report and thought that £15 overnight charge was a reasonable amount based on other locations nearby and thought all vehicles should be charged.

The Chair invited Committee Members to make comments, which included:

·           Thanked the officers for all their hard work at getting the consultation out to all the residents that would be affected by the parking restrictions;

·           the general repairs of the shingle banks was estimated at £5,000, who would be responsible for the upkeep of those areas?;

·           the concrete blocks needed to remain at the shingle banks as the banks were a sea defence and not to be used as a car park for large vehicles;

·           hoped to get a green flag award for Barton’s Point and did not think charging for parking was appropriate;

·           there was no mention as to how the car parking areas were going to be maintained;

·           Leysdown Parish Council had expressed some concerns about the possible issues with the enforcement of the parking areas;

·           could the officers provide more detail on how the Shellness area would be maintained and enforced?;

·           had the owners of Barton’s point been consulted?;

·           how far did the proposed parking restrictions go along Marine Parade?;

·           the overnight charging should operate between the hours of 8 pm – 8 am and £15 was reasonable;

·           were there any potential issues of having no yellow lines and vehicles parking in areas that would cause problems for emergency vehicles?;

·           where was the funding for the £37,000 works going to come from?;

·           good to see a high response rate from members of the public on an important local issue;

·           concerned with those residents currently living at the shingle banks; and

·           what was the sustainability of the car parking areas?

The Head of Environment and Leisure responded with points raised as follows:

·           Paragraph 2.12 in the officer’s report stated that the plan was to implement overnight charging in June 2025, but that depended on the number of objections received. If officers received a large number of objections, a further report would need to be considered by the Committee;

·           Barton’s Point interim operators had not been consulted yet because more information was needed from the environmental surveys currently being conducted before officers finalised potential plans for the park’s operation;

·           the maintenance of the shingle along the beach was a responsibility of the Environment Agency (EA). However, they did not see the shingle bank as their asset to maintain;

·           the length of the Marine Parade restrictions was a piece of work that would be carried out with the Swale Joint Transportation Board (JTB) and officers have had discussions with the Town Council about how far the restrictions should go down Marine Parade;

·           the funding for the car parking areas was the responsibility for the Policy and Resources Committee to consider, but the civil parking enforcement reserve currently had sufficient funds to cover the costs. With regard to the sustainability of the sites it was hoped that the cost of enforcement would be  balanced out by the amount of income collected at the sites;

·           the Housing team had already worked with some of the people that were currently residing at the shingle bank and hoped that over time those individuals impacted would seek the right advice and help. He added that those impacted should contact the Councils Housing team about any concerns they had;

·           acknowledged the comprehensive letter from Leysdown Parish Council and hoped that charging at Shellness would reduce the environmental impact. He was concerned with the enforcement at Shellness, but the public consultation results proved that this was something that the public thought was necessary. If the committee felt that additional costs should be allocated to provide better lighting and CCTV signage then they could recommend to the Policy and Resources Committee to allocate more funding, but they would need to consider whether spending those further costs would be balanced by the amount the Council would receive from charging people to park at the location;

·           with regard to enforcement, officers would be sent to the various locations at different times overnight and sometimes more than one officer might be sent to the more remote locations. He advised that a full risk assessment would be carried out for those officers who would be responsible for enforcement; and

·           acknowledged that the officers in the past had problems with signage being vandalised but hoped officers could effectively enforce in these areas.

The Chair invited Members to make further comments, which included:

·           The shingle bank was often worn away and the cost of repairing the bank would be too much for the Council, would the EA carry on maintaining the banks if they were worn away?;

·           Minster and Sheerness had their highways improvement plan up and running and thought that it would be useful for Leysdown to work with officers at getting something similar set up; and

·           Shellness was a single carriage road with lots of people walking along there so careful consideration needed to be given to ensure vehicles parked in the correct areas.

The Head of Environment and Leisure responded and said that the EA were responsible for the movement of shingle banks and they would carry out any works needed. With regard to the single carriage way at Shellness, he said this scheme would not impact those speeding, but referred to barriers that had been placed along the road in the past to try and make the narrower areas safer.

Councillor Lee-Anne Moore moved the recommendations set out in the report and proposed that overnight charging at the Shingle Banks (including the areas of green opposite), and Shellness Road should take place between the hours of 8 pm and 8 am. That all vehicles should be charged at a rate of £15 per night, with a ban on caravans and an Annual Review of the overnight charging took place by the Community and Leisure Committee to ensure that the overnight charging could be sustained for the long term. She also proposed that the wording of recommendation (6) be changed to ‘request’ rather than require, so that officers could proceed with the necessary works required. This was seconded by Councillor Tara Noe and on being put to the vote, agreed.

Resolved:

(1)   That overnight charging at Shingle Bank (including the areas of green opposite), and Shellness Road be approved.

(2)   The an overnight charge be applied between the hours of 8 pm and 8 am every day.

(3)   That all vehicles be charged for parking across all locations, with a ban on caravans.

(4)   That the Petition opposing charges at the Shingle Bank be noted.

(5)   That the Community and Leisure Committee had an Annual Review report of the overnight charging at the various locations. 

Recommended:

(6)   That the additional costs stated at paragraph 2.20 in the report be referred to the Policy and Resources Committee for approval for the first year of operation.

(7)   That the overnight charge amount, proposed at £15 per night,  be referred to the Policy and Resources Committee to be included in the fees and charges.

(8)   That the Swale Joint Transportation Board be requested to add traffic restrictions along Marine Parade and Shellness Road.