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92 Chapter 6In small market towns someauthorities make charges only onmarket days.Where local authorities providefree off-street car parking theyshould be conscious that costsare still being incurred inmaintenance, cleaning, ratesand the opportunity cost of thesite. They are thereforesubsidising the users of the carparks and should considerwhether this is the best use oftheir funds.Alternatively it could be said thatthe Council Taxpayers aresubsidising retailers and otherbusinesses, and the council maywish to seek contributions fromthese beneficiaries towards thecosts if the car parks are toremain free to the users. Out-oftownretailers and supermarketsusually provide customer carparks, and therefore carry thesecosts themselves. Arrangementsfor retailers to rebate charges totheir customers can be made byagreement between the traderconcerned and the council andticketing systems introduced toallow for this.Quotes from Best Value report on asouth coast authority providing freeparking:“The Council needs to look again atcharging, as the costs fall on alltaxpayers and not just those who usethe car parks.Councillors have pursued a policy offree parking because of theperception that it is necessary for theviability of town centre shops. Freeparking is also thought to preventloss of trade to other shoppingareas... but we found no clearevidence to support theseassumptions.“The Council has also failed tochallenge why the service is free.There was no evidence todemonstrate that the cost to theborough of around £200,000represented best value.”(Audit Commission report, 2002).The District Auditor will wish tosee that the council is securingan appropriate level of incomeand Best Value from car parkingoperations. Therefore clearpolicy objectives will need to beagreed if the tariff results in lessthan the maximum achievablerevenue.Management of Parking(Protocols)Since the operation of parkingservices has a direct influenceon matters of policy, a businessplan should be contained within,or be consistent with the ParkingStrategy. More detail about thepreparation of a business planfor parking is given in Chapter10.Enforcement of ParkingControl SchemesThe Parking Strategy should setout the mechanisms wherebyParking Control schemes will beadequately enforced. LocalAuthorities should also set outtheir programme fordecriminalised enforcement oralternatively satisfy themselvesthat the police have sufficientresources. Further details aboutenforcement matters arecovered in Chapter 9.References(1) Parkhurst, G, 2002, Bibliography ofpark-and-ride references, ESRCTransport Studies Unit, UniversityCollege, London.(2) Apel, D et al, 1997, Kompact, mobil,urban: Stadtentwicklungskonzepte zurVerhehrsvermeidungiminternationalen Vergleich, DIFU, Berlin.(3) Government Office for London and theLondon Planning Advisory Committee,1997, Sustainable Residential Quality(SRQ), LPAC, London.(4) Government Office for the South East,1998, Parking Standards in the SouthEast, Llewelyn-Davies.(5) Department for Transport, 1995,Parking for Disabled People, TrafficAdvisory Leaflet 5/95.(6) Traffic Advisory Leaflet 6/99: CycleParking.(7) Department for Transport, 1994 (orsubsequent revision), The Traffic SignsRegulations and General Directions(TSRGD).(8) DETR/CABE, 2000, By Design: Urbandesign in the planning system: towards