Meeting documents

Ms S Atherton, the Clerk to Wincanton Town Council, read out a statement prepared by the Chairman of Wincanton Town Council and the Car Parks Working Group.  She outlined the history leading to the 3 year rolling agreement with the District Council to keep the car parks free of charge in Wincanton and the subsequent suggestions by the District Council to lessen the impact of charges on the Town Council.  She referred to a 1,500 signature petition organised by Wincanton Businesses Together which requested that the car parks remain free of charge but did not state the cost of the agreement to the Town Council.  The Town Council also felt that intervention by some SSDC officers had led to some unease and the agreement had not freed up car parks for shoppers.  She concluded that there was no such thing as free car parking and requested that the word ‘rolling’ be removed from the agreement so that a new agreement be made in 2015.

Mr John Smith, Chairman of Wincanton Businesses Together said that there was no lack of trust between Wincanton Business Together and Wincanton Town Council and indeed they supported the Town Council’s request to negotiate a new car parking agreement with the District Council as the current agreement was expensive.  He said if car parking charges were introduced in the town then there would be a dip in trade for businesses and he asked that a better long-term solution be negotiated.

Councillor Colin Winder, as Ward Member, said he supported free car parking in the town and at a public meeting in 2012 it was unanimously agreed that the Town Council bear the cost.  He felt the three year rolling agreement gave the town time to decide how to progress in the future and he said the Town Council should speak to local people first to properly gauge local opinion.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Spatial Planning said that Wincanton Town Council had signed up to a 3 year rolling agreement and they knew it would terminate in 3 years.  He said the agreement should be adhered to and it should be allowed to expire in May 2017 which would allow plenty of time for the Town Council to negotiate a fixed term contract if they wished to do so. 

The Chairman regretted the references made by the Town Council that the negotiations of individual officers of the District Council had led to unease and he expressed his support for their time and effort to negotiate a solution to the issue.

During discussion, several Members expressed their support for officers of the District Council and felt that the existing agreement should continue until 2017.

The Assistant Director (Legal and Corporate Services) confirmed that the Town Council had not yet given formal notice to end the current agreement and he suggested that they reconsider the issue at a Town Council meeting and confirm in writing their request to terminate if that was their decision.    

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were unanimously in favour of the recommendations as proposed, with the removal of the words ‘This would mean that the agreement would end on 28 February 2017’ from recommendation 1.