COUNCILLORS have raised several concerns regarding parking management in Basingstoke as Hampshire County Council reveals changes.

Marc Samways, Hampshire County Council highway manager for traffic safety, delivered a presentation to the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council's (BDBC) community environment and partnership committee on Wednesday, October 19 where he talked about on-street parking enforcement and the arrangements the county council are looking to put in place.

In March controversial changes to parking arrangements in the districts were approved, including implementing new on-street parking controls as well as a civil parking enforcement agreement.

READ MORE: Council comes under fire for using Basingstoke land to offset development in Andover

During the presentation, he said: “The decision to terminate the remaining districts' parking agencies was not taken lightly by the county council and it was not a reflection on the way Basingstoke has run the services, but it was a wider decision about bringing in services back to the county council we felt needed to be delivered on a consistent basis and we had scoop to modernise the services.”

It means that both functions will now return under the county council by April 2023.

He continued: “The aim really is to deliver this parking services on a full cost recovery basis because collectively the of the years the district model has operated at quite a significant deficit of over £1m.”

He said the county council want to deliver the services more “consistently” as there are currently “various approaches and policies” across Basingstoke and other districts.

He added: “This could be deemed to be unfair on motorists who have parked in one borough and be dealt with in one way and then moved to a district where parking arrangements are different.”

The county council plan to modernise services in several ways such as digital permits, all traffic officers wearing body warn cameras to capture any aggression they experience as well as them having GPS tracking devices.

Plans will be reinforced on behalf of the county council by the parking enforcement company NSL.

On top of this, the service aims to be better for the environment and sustainability including using hybrid cars and eventually electric vehicles.

Councillors on the committee were then given the chance to ask questions.

SEE ALSO: Boy, 14, involved in a collision with a car in Basingstoke

Sam Jean, ward councillor for Brookvale and Kings Furlong, said: “One of the major issues that we have locally is major issues with enforcement around schools and that is borough and county-wide. With the new resume, will we see more footfall around schools to help with enforcement?

“Can the general republic report online parking issues as we seem to spend many hours a week on parking patrols outside schools?”

Mr Samways said all residents can use the online reporting system but said it does not guarantee that someone will be sent out within a few days depending on whether there are parking patrols.

He added: “We do get a lot of demand for school parking and NSL do cover that as best they can and as part of moving traffic enforcement powers we are trying to enforce some schools keep clear markings. So, if there are any specific problem areas that are the kind of thing we have been working on.”

Cllr Alex Lee, ward councillor for Winklebury and Manydown, shared concerns about parking hotspots in the borough and how residents can be reassured that issues will be dealt with in the borough.

Mr Samways said if there are staffing issues the council can look at paying some staff overtime but said it would never have a situation where "one district is suffering because of something else going on".

The county council will be updating residents affected through letters and social media.