Charge and counter charge in row over paying to park
CAMPAIGNERS WANT LONGER FREE PERIOD, WHILE COUNCIL LEADER AND MP EXCHANGE LETTERS
CAMPAIGNERS say the latest proposals for parking in a borough will not stop shoppers from deserting its town centres.
Annette Rogers and Justin Salmen, who live in Wigston, launched a petition to oppose the introduction of parking charges when Oadby and Wigston Borough Council first announced them.
The council subsequently brought in the possibility of shoppers buying permits, rather than use the pay and display.
Ms Rodgers said the scheme was “not much of a saving”.
Residents would be able to buy permits for £75, meaning an estimated average cost of 12p per hour if they spent three to four hours parked up twice a week.
The permits would cost twice as much for non-residents.
Ms Rogers said: “Unless you visit the area several times a week, I don’t see it as much of a saving, and to double it for non-residents will discourage any visitors living in nearby areas from using our shopping centres.
“Also, it is tied into vehicle registration, so if you are a family with two cars you would either have to buy two permits or ensure you always have the vehicle that is registered with the permit available for use. What if that car is out of action or in use elsewhere?”
A spokesman for the council said it was working with an external company to “ensure the permits are as flexible as possible”.
“It’s important to note permits are in addition to the – also very reasonably priced – pay-as-park option,” he said.
“They won’t be right for everyone and will depend on personal circumstances.”
Mr Salmen said: “What the council is trying to do is maximise revenue by only making a limited number of spaces free for 30 minutes. Though, this has increased from 20 minutes as originally proposed.
“We want to have an hour’s free parking and then charges for up to two hours and then three hours or longer, in line with Market Harborough and Blaby.
“We understand that we are going to lose the three hours free parking, and are not against having to pay, but it is the increase we are against and the knock-on effect it will have to the high street.” A spokesman for Conservative Harborough MP Neil O’Brien said: “The shopping parades are all a few minutes’ drive from the city centre and Fosse Park.
“So what’s going to happen – and this is the concern Mr O’Brien and have – is once you introduce parking charges, you’re going to just suck all the life out of those two parade and then those towns. “What they’ve basically said is if permit holders go to The Parade twice a week and spend four hours there, your average cost is 12p an hour. “With all the best will in the world towards Oadby Parade, noone is going to spend four hours there.
“They’re fairly small parades, they’re not the kind you’d spend three or four hours milling around in, so we’re opposing it quite strongly on those grounds. It’s £75
We want to have an hour’s free parking and then charges for up to two hours
Justin Salmen
if you live in the borough, £150 if you live outside.
“Realistically, no one is going to buy those permits. We’ve not heard from anyone who is keen on the idea.”
Mr O’Brien has written to Oadby and Wigston Borough Council leader John Boyce to ask how many people the council expects to purchase a permit, how much revenue it expects and how many residents supported the new plans during the consultation period.
He also asked the Liberal Democrat council leader: “Just as importantly as the actual scheme itself: Why has it been decided that such a seismic change for the entire borough will not be put to a final vote before the democratically elected councillors?
“Given the prominence free parking had in the campaign literature of many of the councillors elected in 2019, it will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of many residents and businesses to see such an important change that will have a considerable impact across the borough, not being put to a final vote before those councillors elected to represent them.”
Councillor Boyce said: “The overall scheme will be as low-cost and as flexible as can be found anywhere locally, and undercuts many areas such as Harborough, which increased its parking charges to £1.50 for two hours earlier this year without any complaint from the MP.
“The council has fought year on year to keep car parks free – lasting much longer than the vast majority of our counterpart authorities but with continued cuts to our funding from government, we have to start mitigating the huge losses we make on car parking.”
“Councillors – including the leader of the Conservative opposition – voted in favour of the charges at our full council meeting in March, acknowledging it is financially imperative we urgently address the annual losses.”
He also replied to Mr O’Brien in a letter published on the council website. See below.
Why has it been decided such a seismic change for the entire borough will not be put to a final vote? Neil O’Brien