Councillor Jenns sent his apologies for the meeting.

Councillor Gifford declared that he lived in a parking permit zone and his wife was a permit holder.

The Chair noted that six residents had registered to speak, and he invited Mr Whieldon to speak on behalf of Mrs Owen who could not attend the meeting.

Mr Whieldon raised the follow points:

·     Old Town in Stratford-upon-Avon consisted of rows of terraced houses on narrow streets which meant that parking spaces were in high demand especially as the current permit scheme allowed two hours of free parking for visitors.

·     While residents welcomed the reduced increase in the prices of permits, they remained concerned about the digital system for managing visitor permits. Residents did not think that a system requiring every car to be scanned by the traffic warden to check if they had a proper permit would offer any efficiencies over a system that simply required a warden to check the dashboard of a car.

·     The digital system would also be challenging for elderly residents who may not have access to the internet or may be less confident managing an online account.

·     Mr Whieldon called on the Council to: continue with paper permits particularly for visitor permits, increase the cost of permit by 20% for all residents regardless of the number of permits, and to move to residents only parking on evenings and Sundays in Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon

The Chair invited Mr Lees to address the Committee.

Mr Lees raised the following points:

·     Shakespeare’s England had publicly stated that they believed that the proposed changes to the scratch card system would be a detriment to those wishing to stay in Stratford. Overnight guests represented the greatest value to the local economy not only as they paid for accommodation but also through spending more in local businesses. Overnight visitors represented £200 million to the local economy while only making up around 10% of the total visitors in the area.

·     Guesthouse owners in Stratford felt that the current system of scratch off tickets was working well and allowed guests flexibility. The online system would require more conversations between guesthouse owners and visitors and would lack the flexibility of the current system as it would require booking parking in advance.

·     The new system increased the risk of a guesthouse paying for parking that was not needed or of a guest receiving a parking ticket in error.

The Chair invited Mrs Boylin (Chair - Concerned Rugbeians Against Parking Proposals) to address the Committee.

Mrs Boylin raised the following issues:

·     Paragraph 1.16 of the report being considered by the Committee stated that both Leamington Spa Business Improvement District and the Chamber of Commerce were consulted but it did not mention Rugby First.

·     Paragraph 2.19 provided information about the original survey given to residents. The consultation had only provided two potential new permit schemes to choose from and so residents had chosen the lesser of two evils but this did not indicate support.

·     Paragraph 2.22 outlined the reduced price increase which was welcomed by residents but the new pricing model would still have a significant impact on families as households with three permits would see  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.