‘If Charlotte Street costs go up, most people aren’t going to come up this end of town’
Traders in Milsom Street have mixed views about the revised parking charges and further changes as Pascale Mama found out Mark from greeting card shop Mayther said: “They did the same thing in Oxford city centre. One of the councillors hated cars. So they put the pricing up on car parks. “We had a shop there for about 25 years. The last 10 years saw it go down and down and down. So we are terrified, because business isn’t good at the minute. “The Bath BID do a weekly report on the actual footfall and that’s been going down the last few weeks. It’s just come at the worst time imaginable. “I can’t imagine why they would think it’s a good thing to do. I know (the council) have got bills to pay but they can’t pay bills at the expense of businesses. Because half the town is going anyway. So many empty shops. House of Fraser was in administration last week. All the banks are at the bottom end of town now. “Most people are staying downtown but this part of town is going down. If Charlotte Street is going to be more expensive, people can go and park in Southgate but they’re not going to come up this end of town.” An anonymous trader said: “From our point of view it is not very encouraging. Apparently now you have to use your phone as well (to pay), which some people just can’t do.” Josh from furniture store OKA said: “To be honest, it doesn’t really bother me that much because I just walk into work. And that goes for pretty much most of us here. So it doesn’t have much of an effect on us. “(The customers) never seem to mention it really. We get the odd one who comes in to swap some change but they never really complain about it. It’s more about the lack of parking than the price of it. Especially on this street when we have people that order things online then they come in to collect. ‘Can we park outside?’ ‘no.’ “Lots of people take advantage of the park and ride, but I guess that’s down to the lack of parking in town. “Obviously it is going to affect everybody who commutes to work and any tourists who want to come into Bath. “I know quite a lot of people who already take the park and ride in because parking just costs so much. “Serving a lot of tourists in retail a lot of them are quite taken aback by how expensive the parking is already. “I have quite a lot of people asking me if there’s anywhere free to park in Bath. I say that’s pretty much like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s just impossible.” Tracy from Anemone florist said: “More than likely (the parking prices rising) probably would effect us.”