harpenden on-street parking charges

Since the on-street parking charges were first proposed by St Albans City & District Council (SADC), Harpenden Town Council (HTC) has held significant concerns as to the impact that they would have on our local businesses. At various points over the past 12 months, HTC has objected to what has been proposed and offered to work jointly with SADC to develop an approach that would achieve a better-balanced outcome for all and, in particular, one that sees the retention of at least 1 hour free parking. 

At each stage our offer to work collaboratively has been rejected by SADC which we maintain has meant a missed opportunity to develop better proposals that have fewer negative impacts. 

Due to a lack of joint working, HTC has explored other avenues to try to seek a change of approach from SADC and this includes instructing legal representatives to examine the lawfulness of the decisions that were being proposed by SADC and were subsequently imposed.

Initiating a Judicial Review 

In February 2025, HTC issued a Pre-Action Protocol Letter to SADC setting out that it was considering instigating court proceedings in the form of a Judicial Review. This pre-action letter was sent based on a large body of evidence that we built up or was provided to us. This evidence included correspondence not accessible in the public domain, that appeared to show that SADC’s final scheme was always going to be the outcome irrespective of any consultation process. 

The aim of issuing a Pre-Action Protocol letter was to clearly set out the HTC position that the decision of SADC was unlawful based on: 

1. An Absence of Power: Ultra vires i.e. the decision was focused on revenue raising
2. Flawed consultation process
3. a) Pre-determined decision
4. b) Misleading approach
5. c) Absence of evidence and assessment
6. d) Absence of consideration of alternative

As part of the pre-action protocol letter, HTC requested that SADC disclosed and provided copies of a number of documents that HTC had not already seen. 

SADC provided a response on 17 March 2025 setting out their position that the decision, taken by an individual Officer, was lawful. The response included various documents that had been requested by HTC that we had not previously seen. This includes documents that had been produced after the decision was taken. 

The response and supporting documents were considered by our legal representatives and they provided the following advice to HTC: 

1. It was Counsel’s advice that the prospects of success of the proposed claim werenot greater than 50%;
2. HTC’s total costs liability after a loss at a full contested trial would likely be in the region of £100,000 although it could be higher.

Counsel’s advice was reviewed by the relevant HTC Committee in late March 2025. This Committee, in deciding whether to instigate court proceedings, had to give key consideration to ensuring the efficient and effective use of public resources. 

In light of the Counsel’s advice, it was resolved not to instigate court proceedings in the form of a Judicial Review and therefore HTC has not filed a claim with the court within the statutory deadline. 

Whilst HTC is not progressing with a Judicial Review, we maintain the view that the proposals and the decision have been significantly flawed from the outset. We believe that given the importance of the decision, it should have been taken by Councillors at an SADC Committee Meeting and not delegated to an individual officer. The lack of Committee decision making is a significant flaw in the SADC Governance arrangements. 

Review of the new SADC policy 

We are very concerned as to the impact that the new charges are already having on local businesses and are calling for an urgent review of the policy. A recent press release suggests that SADC is open to a review of the scheme however the suggested timeline of that review, being in 12 months time, we presume co-incides with or worse, comes after, SADC’s annual budget review. This is clearly not acceptable as that may be too late for some businesses that are suffering as a result of the policy. 

HTC will be writing to SADC shortly to set out the need for an urgent review. We will push for a change to 60 minutes free parking in on-street parking bays as we feel this will dramatically improve the situation. 

We will be calling on SADC to work with us to develop amendments to the current parking policy thereby instigating a new formal consultation process by them before July 2025. 

We are also calling on our MP Victoria Collins, to support us in securing an immediate review of the current policy. 

Review of HTC parking assets 

HTC owns some parking assets in the Town that could be used to help mitigate the impact of the changes. The most notable is Lydekker Car Park which already has lower fees Monday to Friday than other car parks and is free at the weekend. 

HTC also delivers a business parking permit scheme which subsidises the annual costs. 

From June 2025 onwards, we will be reviewing our own parking assets to explore if they could be utilised in a different way to reverse the negative impact on the High Street. Plans for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) are also moving forward at some speed. LGR provides a huge opportunity for HTC to take on more responsibilities locally, increasing the direct impact that it could have on the assets and services that are important to local people. This opportunity may include additional parking assets, giving HTC the chance to develop and implement a parking policy that is bespoke to Harpenden. 

Carl Cheevers 

Town Clerk & Chief Executive  

Harpenden Town Council 

Download this statement

Previous statements regarding Harpenden on-street parking charges are available to read on our Press Releases page.