UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
TRANSPORT POLICY SUB-COMMITTEE
08 July 2009
UNAPPROVED MINUTES
Chair
Present
Apologies
Secretary
Professor Temple, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Resources)
Mr Barnard, Ms Harrup, Mr Ma, Mr Merrett, Mr Nightingale, Dr Rich, Mrs Williams,
Mrs Totman
Ms Leyland, Ms Provan, Mr Wakeman
Miss Lucas
MINUTES
Approved
Minutes of the 24th February 2009 meeting.
60/09
MATTERS ARISING
Noted
There were no matters arising not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
61/09
UPDATE ON CAR PARKING
Noted
The developments since the last meeting.
62/09
a) Pay and Display Machines
Reported
That, following the problems in January and February, a meeting had taken place
with the managing director of the company that supplied the ticket machines and
that the problems had been resolved. Since the meeting, the machines had been
more reliable and the maintenance service had been better. Some servicing of
machines had, however, been carried out by Woodlund Services and this would
need to be considered when determining the duties of the staff under the new
parking management system.
63/09
b) Car Parking Enforcement Review (TPSC/08/17a)
Noted
The recommendations from the Car Parking Review Group. The paper was
intended to reflect the views of the group, although the paper in its entirety had
not been discussed by them due to timing issues. However, the first three
recommendations reflected what had been agreed and the remaining
recommendations represented the steps needed to operationalise the proposals.
64/09
The enforcement regulations were viewed in the light of the fact that they would
be implemented with flexibility and that the rules would be applied with common
sense.
65/09
The introduction of an early payment discount, where the right to appeal is
66/09
foregone, was common practice outside the University and was aimed at reducing
bureaucracy and minimising the number of cases. The warning notice was
intended to minimise the number of contraventions of parking regulations that
escalated to the stage of penalties and appeals.
New students would be on campus from September and Mr Nightingale was
67/09
exploring a mechanism for registering these users early.
Approved
that the following car parking management system be implemented by October
2009:
1.
The rules governing the driving and parking of vehicles on campus to
remain largely unchanged save as influenced by the proposals below.
2.
The physical enforcement of the regulations, i.e. car parking
contraventions generally to be:-
3.
(i)
1st offence – warning notice posted on vehicle advising of nature of
contravention and that any future contravention within the academic
year will escalate the penalty as (ii) and (iii) below.
(ii)
2nd offence – warning notice posted, civil penalty notice issued with a
fine of £50 which can be reduced to £25 for early payment, say
within 7 days, foregoing any right to appeal
(iii)
3rd offence and subsequent offences – warning notice posted, wheel
clamp applied and civil penalty notice issued with a fine of £50,
which can be reduced to £25 for early payment, as (ii) above.
(iv)
Persistent registered vehicles/offenders may have the right to park
withdrawn.
68/09
There will be some contraventions that are considered sufficiently
serious to go straight to 2(ii) above. These are identified below:(i)
Parked in an area reserved for emergency vehicles
(ii)
Parked on double yellow lines or in cross hatched area
(iii)
Parked so as to cause obstruction or inconvenience to others
There are some further contraventions which are also serious and which
can be clamped without escalating any hazard. Such contraventions
should go straight to 2(iii) above and are:(i)
Parked in a disabled bay without displaying a valid disabled badge
(ii)
Unauthorised parking in a loading bay
(iii)
Parked under podia without authorisation
Noted
The recommendations referring specifically to Liberty required more detailed
discussions. Setting these aside, the committee consider the remaining
operational issues.
69/09
Approved
the recommendations that:
70/09
1. Responsibility for physical and associated car park management and
enacting the measures above would lie with two new posts – Traffic
Officers, salary grade subject to HERA. The post holders would report
to the Security Manager and would be required to be SIA licensed. Remit
would extend to, for example, ensuring compliance with rules governing
cycles and motorcycles.
2. The two new posts would be funded from ring fenced car parking income
in the first year and the cost would be advised to TPSC in due course.
3. The two new posts would be supplemented as and when required (e.g.
sickness, annual leave) by Patrol Officers. This would attract an
overtime allocation which would be budgeted annually from ring fenced
transport income and reported back to TPSC. The Patrol Officers would
be trained by the Traffic Officers for wheel clamping etc.
4. An Appeals process would be developed concurrent. The principle would
be that the final point of any appeals process would be independent of the
Estate Management Section and/or company issuing the fine.
Resolved
that, in finalising arrangements for the new staff, the Estates Management
Section should give consideration as to whether it was necessary for the posts to
be full time and whether there might be scope for term time only working.
71/09
Noted
Further investigation into the feasibility of a barrier system to replace the current
pay and display system was needed.
72/09
Resolved
that the Transport Policy Sub-Committee should investigate the feasibility of the
introduction in all campus car parks of a barrier system in due course to replace
the current pay and display system and report back at a future meeting.
73/09
Reported
The outcomes of discussions with Liberty regarding the IT and hardware
solutions in respect of the new car parking policy. The system was used in at
least six Universities, including Keele and Reading, and in several hospitals. The
product offered looked impressive and provided the capacity to photograph cars
in breach of regulations, issue tickets and permit University staff and students to
access details of their offence on line. The cost of the system was estimated to be
£9000.
74/09
Resolved
1. that Mr Nightingale should investigate the perception of Liberty at those
institutions currently using the company;
75/09
2. that an investigation into the costs of other similar products should be
undertaken, using the KPIs of percentage fine returned to the University and
start up costs as benchmarks for comparison;
3. that final approval of the company to be used for the civil penalty notice
administration should be delegated to the Chair.
Noted
Resolved
It was vital that communication regarding the new car parking management
system was handled well. It would be important to emphasise that some of the
money from fixed penalty fines was being fed back into the University.
76/09
The Estates Management Section had been discussing with Liberty the issue of
signage. It was important that the Car User Group had an opportunity to feed
into these discussions.
77/09
that Mr Merrett should be involved in the next meeting regarding signage in
order to ensure user views are adequately considered.
78/09
c) Submission from Essex UCU (TPSC/08/17b)
Received
A paper from Essex UCU regarding overflow car parking.
79/09
Noted
The UCU, while recognising that there were twice as many registered car park
users as there were spaces, nonetheless had concerns regarding the suitability of
the overflow parking arrangements and was requesting a Full Impact Assessment.
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Members discussed the concerns at some length. It was felt by some members
that it might be counterproductive to fully review the situation in the present
circumstances, given that it was estimated that there would be an additional 1000
students next academic year and no extra car parking provision. In addition, the
consideration of measures to discourage car usage had not yet been completed.
It was no longer the case that the Committee needed to consider how to manage
car parking within a situation of static demand – demand was growing and
provision needed to be reviewed within that context.
81/09
Reported
There had, in the last eighteen months, been two incidents reported to the Safety
Office in relation to the car parks. Neither were considered to be attributable to
the condition of the overflow areas.
82/09
Noted
Steps had been, and would continue to be, taken to minimise the risks associated
with the overflow car parks. They were closed when deemed unsafe and when
demand was considered low. While the Committee recognised and took
seriously UCU’s concerns, it was not minded to request a Full Impact
Assessment until some progress had been made to alleviate the pressure on
spaces. The Transport Strategy would be reviewed during the autumn term and
that review would take into account, among other things, the unsatisfactory
nature of the overflow car parks.
83/09
Resolved
1. that the issue of overflow car parking would be considered during 2009/10;
84/09
2. that the Estates Management Section would check the overflow areas
regularly and, where the ground was becoming potholed, ground staff would
take steps to improve the safety of these areas as a matter of priority.
UPDATE ON PROJECTS 2008/9 FUNDED FROM CAR PARKING INCOME
(TPSC/08/19)
Noted
The progress of the funded projects.
85/09
Approved
1. The request that the under spend on cycle racks at Loughton should be used
to fund cycle storage at Southend Campus;
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2. The request to endorse the action to guarantee the continuation of the Dr Bike
services for the next two academic years.
PRIORITISED PROJECTS FOR APPROVAL 2009/10 (TPSC/08/19)
Noted
The recent developments regarding car parking enforcement management had
impacted upon the planned budgetary commitments of the committee. However,
the committee was of the view that none of the planned projects could be
postponed without undermining the University’s attempts to encourage
alternatives to cars and address the shortfall in car parking places.
87/09
Resolved
that USG should be asked to note that there was the possibility of a shortfall in
the budget for 2009/10. However, any shortfall would represent a forward spend
on future income and in the longer term would be rebalanced.
88/09
That the proposed half time Assistant Travel Co-ordinator post would be
subsumed into the Transport Policy Co-ordinator role so that this would become
a full time post following receipt of the current incumbent’s resignation. This
would increase the cost by about £4,000.
UNIVERSITY TRANSPORT POLICY CO-ORDINATOR UPDATE (TPSC/08/20)
Noted
Appendix 1 of the paper contained an error relating to monies paid to Woodlund
Services which Mr Nightingale would investigate.
89/09
SEASON TICKET LOAN SCHEME (TPSC/08/21)
Resolved
That, notwithstanding the reservations of the Chair, the committee endorsed the 90/09
principle of providing interest free loans for season tickets (for both rail and bus
travel), subject to both the Finance and Human Resources sections confirming the
viability and practicality of the proposal.
COLCHESTER 2020 TRAVEL PLAN CLUB UPDATE (TPSC/08/22)
Noted
The report on the Colchester 2020 travel plan club. In particular, it was noted 91/09
that levels of discounts on public transport would increase with usage.
The committee endorsed the intention to follow a simpler marketing plan with 92/09
more focus on promotions within member organisations.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Cycle to work scheme
Resolved
that a two year re-entry period should be introduced in the scheme to prevent non
genuine users purchasing a bike under the programme and then selling it on.
93/09
Retiring Members
Noted
The committee’s thanks to Mr Ma for his contribution to the work of the
committee and to Mrs Leyland for her invaluable contributions to the work of the
group.
94/09
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Noted
The next meeting was scheduled for November. Precise details to be confirmed.
95/09