Help to stop commuter parking woe
FOUR new parking schemes will be introduced in Manchester help residents deal with the ‘blight of commuter parking’ - but eight others being considered will have to wait.
Town hall bosses agreed that programmes in Rusholme, in the Hathersage Road area, near to North Manchester General Hospital and in the St George’s area of Hulme should be brought forward.
But eight other parking zones that were being considered as part of a larger shake-up will have to wait, councillors at an executive meeting said. Under the plans, bosses were also considering charging for residents to make up for a shortfall, but now say they will approach large organisations to help foot the bill.
The council revenue subsidy for existing residents’ parking is around £225,000 per year, a report had said, adding that such a level of support ‘is not sustainable.’
Town hall officers suggested ‘annual charges’ for residents’ permits to help plug the gap. But councillors in a scrutiny meeting last week said it wouldn’t be fair to charge people to help solve a problem caused by commuters.
Town hall bosses said they would meet the revenue costs for the four schemes within existing budgets, but would also consider approaching organisations.
Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: “Members’ view is that residents’ parking schemes that are there as a result of the impact of other organisations, hospitals, commuters and so on the victims of that commuter parking shouldn’t be paying to resolve the problem. Visitor permits are separate to that but residents shouldn’t be paying.”
He added: “One of the things we’ll be asking the chief executive to do with current schemes is that where it can be clearly identified what the major causes of the issue are - which I think is the case for all except St George’s - that we should write to the organisations to start a discussion about seeking revenue contributions from them to the cost of the schemes.” Sir Richard said the council would have to find ‘significant’ ways of reducing the cost of existing schemes.
The ‘distinction’ between the schemes that will be brought forward and other proposed schemes, he said, is the section 106 cash from housing developers that has been earmarked to help meet set-up costs for the four new schemes.
Executive member for the environment, planning and transport, councillor Angeliki Stogia, said revenue costs would have to be reduced and ‘contained in the existing revenue budget.’
In a statement last week she said: “It’s vital that we tackle the problem by introducing new schemes to control non-resident parking in those areas where they would help to meet the needs of residents and businesses.”
Councillors did not say when the schemes are likely to be in place.