Setting the record straight on parking

Well, as many of your readers will appreciate, the council has to try and balance the needs of businesses, local residents, visitors with the needs of local council taxpayer when it comes to the number of spaces and the charges we levy on people who park in the town centre.

The more surplus money we can raise from off-street parking charges the less we need to find from other sources like council tax, but one way or another the council has to deliver a balanced budget each year and the surplus from off-street parking income certainly helps the council achieve that end.

We read the suggestion from Local Government Minister Mr Eric Pickles that, if councils were to reduce their parking charges, people would come flooding back to the town centre car parks. Well, if we reduced the charge by 10p, that would reduce off-street income by £150,000 ,which would require an additional 110,000 users to visit our car parks to help to balance the books, an eight per cent increase in current usage.

Given the general state of the economy and high fuel prices, would your readers vote for a 10p reduction in charges on the basis it will generate an eight per cent increase in car park usage and, if not, would they be happy to vote for a two per cent increase in council tax to meet the potential shortfall?

A more sensible approach is to work with local businesses to encourage those who visit Leamington to park in the “pay on foot” car parks, where you pay when you leave not when you arrive. That payment method encourages visitors to increase their dwell time in the town, which is a ‘win win’ for businesses and the council. Talks on how we work together to deliver that are taking place.

The suggestion that the council ignores what’s happening in the real world when we set charges ignores the fact that for the last eight years the district council has undertaken detailed consultations. We have consulted with the three chambers of trade and town centre initiatives plus the town councils on our proposals for changes to off-street parking charges.

Our proposals are based on looking at the current performance in each town centre and the likely impact that planned developments like the Severn Trent works have on the local economy. It also means the chamber of trade and the council have a far better understanding of the pressures we both face trying to run our own businesses.

As a result we have often made changes to our initial proposals and are able to report to the Executive that we have the support of businesses and town councillors for the proposals being put forward.

We start consulting in September and quite clearly things are very different this year to last year. I can assure everyone that our proposals will reflect the current position and performance and that we will remain open to the suggestions from businesses and town councillors alike.

The final point to make relates to the parking charges in and around Augusta Place and the cinema.

Yes, the on-street charging operates to 10pm in this area of the town. The reason for this is to offer some protection to local residents in the immediate area of the cinema who would like to be able to park near to where they live.

Yes, the on-street regulations restrict parking to two hours, but not if you park in those streets after 8pm. If you arrive before 8pm the nearest place to park to the cinema which offers over two hours parking is not Bedford Street car park but St Peter’s. We encourage visitors to the cinema visiting by car to park in St Peter’s car park located opposite the cinema where parking for cinema goers costs just £1 between 6pm and midnight and is something we and the cinema have promoted ever since the move to on-street charges was introduced in 2007.

Perhaps this sets the record straight and shows that council officers are actually far better at using their brains than some people might try and suggest - Cllr David Shilton, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Services