Calls for two hours of free parking rejected
Council will not lobby Government, despite fewer people visiting town centre
WEST Berkshire Council will not lobby the Government to cover the cost of free parking in the district.
It was also suggested that business in West Berkshire was flagging before the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Billy Drummond (Lib Dem, Newbury Greenham) asked the council’s influential executive to lobby for the first two-hour period to be free for six months to “help the many local shops and give them a fighting chance to get back on their feet and saving many from going under”.
Executive member for finance and economic development Ross Mackinnon (Con, Bradfield) said he wouldn’t, adding that the financial burden on the Government shouldn’t be underestimated.
Mr Mackinnon said that parking income nationally for all councils was just under £1bn.
“In West Berkshire about 25 per cent of parking income is taken in the first two hours,” he said.
“To fund free parking for the first six months nationally would cost the Government about £125m, when it’s highly debatable, certainly in our area, whether two hours of free parking is going to make the difference between somebody coming into the town centre and spending money in the shops.
“There’s a debate to be had there, but I’d say it’s not guaranteed by any means.”
He said the Government had announced an income replacement scheme for councils for lost revenue, such as parking, to provide compensation to councils at a rate of 75p in every pound over and above the first five per cent of lost income.
Leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition Lee Dillon (Thatcham North East) said the council could reduce the parking charge by that percentage and pass it back as lost income.
He said: “West Berkshire is a particularly rural community and we would absolutely love people not to be reliant on cars as much as they are, but with rural bus routes decimated over recent history that just isn’t viable at the moment unfortunately.
“You debate the efficiency of the policy, but we believe that if you go and speak to traders that it’s worth a try.
“Two hours gives people the chance to go in and have some food, as well as be able to shop.”
But Mr Mackinnon replied: “I think the Government would take a very dim view of councils which cut parking knowing that it would be covered by this income protection scheme.
“It’s covering income that would have been anticipated before Covid. Councils have to cover their losses.
“They can’t make those suggestions knowing a bailout is coming from central government.”
Mr Drummond’s request follows the council acknowledging that fewer people are using council-run car parks and visiting Newbury town centre.
There has been a slight increase in the number of business rated premises, however.
The weekly average footfall in Newbury in January to March this year was 150,229, with 203,542 parking tickets sold in council car parks.
From October to December last year, the average footfall was 168,446, with 264,466 parking tickets sold.
The council said that these could be “a sign of a slowing economy, or alternatively an indication of a change in people’s purchasing and working behaviour, and uncertainty about the UK’s future in Europe”.
Mr Dillon said the falling numbers in the local economy and more vacant businesses was prior to lockdown, which would be by Covid-19.
“We heard a lot of talk from the administration about West Berkshire being strong for businesses, yet these figures suggest that things were starting to stagnate before lockdown,” he said.
Executive member for internal governance Joanne Stewart (Con, Tilehurst Birch Copse) said she had noted Mr Dillon’s points.