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GBC to Manage Off-street Car Parking Enforcement for Waverley

Published on: 16 Oct, 2024
Updated on: 17 Oct, 2024

In another example of the collaboration between Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils, GBC is to manage and provide parking enforcement services to Waverley. The two councils already share a Joint Leadership Team.

A review of the two-council collaboration has been conducted. The results are expected to be published in a few weeks.

A GBC spokesperson said: “From this month, the shared parking enforcement team will deliver more sustainable and resilient public services with: savings for Waverley Borough Council and income and savings for Guildford Borough Council to cover the cost of the service. The contract could form the blueprint for future collaborative working arrangements.”

See also: Parking Tickets in Guildford Have Almost Doubled – Nearly £500,000 Collected

Cllr Catherine Houston

Guildford Borough Council’s lead councillor for Commercial Services, Catherine Houston (Lib Dem, Shalford), said: “This is the first time that the two councils are collaborating on frontline service provision.

“The contract is cost-effective. It represents best value for money for residents and will help protect priority services in the face of local government funding challenges.”

Waverley Borough Council’s portfolio holder for Enforcement and Regulatory Services, Cllr Tony Fairclough (Farnham Residents, Farnham Heath End), said: “By sharing parking enforcement services, we are enhancing the efficiency and resilience of our public services in a more cost-effective manner for Waverley residents.

Cllr Tony Fairclough

“This partnership is a testament to our commitment to delivering value for money to our residents while safeguarding essential services amidst severe financial challenges.”

But the Conservative opposition leader at WBC, Jane Austin (Bramley & Wonersh), sounded a cautionary note. Although she considered the contract a sensible example of joint working she added: “It certainly does not mean the ‘collaboration’ is delivering savings or indeed delivering high quality service for our residents.

Cllr Jane Austin

“Agency staff fees are up by £millions each year since the start of this merger and the councils have had to re-recruit their entire senior management team, so let’s not assume this small saving will paper over the huge cracks caused by this ongoing merger of the two councils.”

See also: SCC Takes Back Highway Verge Cutting, Weed Control and On-street Parking Enforcement

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Responses to GBC to Manage Off-street Car Parking Enforcement for Waverley

  1. Jim Allen Reply

    October 16, 2024 at 7:22 pm

    Seems a reasonable action. Guildford parking were accessible within the hour when reacting to a call from Burpham.

    Unlike the new SCC contract which checks on badly parked cars via email message which are responded to within 10 working days and then say there is no car found!

    • S Callanan Reply

      October 17, 2024 at 1:06 pm

      It’s utterly absurd that on-street parking in Guildford is managed and policed by NSL, while off-street parking is policed by GBC. Can anyone, anywhere show any evidence that NSL [the company contracted by SCC to enforce on street parking regulations] handle things any better than GBC did? Or that SCC’s decision to award NSL the megabucks parking contract was a good one? I doubt it.

      There is a lot of truth in the maxim: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”.

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