08 May 2025
Harpenden Town Council has decided not to proceed with legal action against St Albans district council over the imposition of on-street parking charges.
In February , 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 including 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.
HTC requested that SADC disclosed and provided copies of a number of documents that they had not already seen.
The response included documents that had been produced after the decision was taken.
The response and supporting documents were considered by HTC’s legal representatives, who advised that the prospects of success of the proposed claim were not greater than 50 per cent.
They also said 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.
HTC then had to give key consideration to ensuring the efficient and effective use of public resources, and in light of this advice resolved not to instigate court proceedings in the form of a Judicial Review, so has not filed a claim with the court within the statutory deadline.
Town clerk Carl Cheevers said: “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 cuncillors 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.
“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.”
HTC owns several 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, the town council will be reviewing these 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.
SADC strategic director for community and place delivery Chris Traill said: “We welcome the town council’s wise decision not to seek a judicial review.
“This was an unfortunate episode as it is always disappointing to see one public body threaten to take another one to court with all the wasted time and money that involves.
“We were confident throughout that there were no grounds for a judicial review and that the arguments put forward for it were flawed.
“Our parking services team are highly experienced at issuing Traffic Regulation Orders and always follow the statutory process for decision making.
“The proper legal way to challenge such an order was clearly advertised on the public notices that we issued.
“If we ever make a mistake – which was not the case here – we own up to it and take appropriate action to remedy the error.
“The new on-street parking regime in Harpenden has settled in very well as we can see from the usage data, showing a high turnover at the parking bays.
“The aims, outlined in the statement of reasons, have been supported by many residents. These include encouraging active travel, such as cycling and walking, and easing traffic congestion.
“We will continue to listen to feedback from the town council, residents and businesses. I am pleased to say that we are introducing two improvements this month with the assistance of our partners PayByPhone.
“The PayPoint scheme is now up and running, enabling people to make cash payments if they struggle with digital methods such as contactless or the popular PayByPhone app.
“Residents will be pleased to hear that we are also on schedule to introduce a one-code system for the app to replace the two code system that has, I accept, been causing some confusion.”
