Bump in the road for council's parking charge plan

By Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

parking meter shirley LDRSA contentious decision to scrap free car parking at 17 sites, including Bitterne and Portswood, will face fresh scrutiny.
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The change to parking tariffs and charging hours was approved by Labour cabinet members at a meeting on Tuesday, January 27.

Due to come into effect from April 1, the move will remove the two-hour free option at car parks in Bitterne, Portswood, Shirley and Woolston. New charging rates would be in force seven days a week from 8am to 8pm, raising more than £500,000 a year.

However, this decision has now been called in by two members of the overview and scrutiny management committee.

Committee chair and Liberal Democrat group leader Cllr Richard Blackman and Conservative member Cllr Rob Stead made the request.

The call-in notice outlining their reasons for doing so said: “The economic and financial impact on the district centres and the businesses within them has not been calculated and thus represents a significant risk to the vitality of these districts and the viability of businesses.

“The consultation on these measures demonstrated overwhelming public opposition, but this has been ignored.”

The committee will quiz the executive and officers at a special meeting on Tuesday, February 11, before deciding whether to recommend cabinet reconsider its decision.

A public consultation on the car park changes attracted 2,000 objections, which made up 98 per cent of the responses.

Speaking at the January cabinet meeting, cabinet member for environment and transport Cllr Eamonn Keogh said feedback from the consultation had led to the charging hours being reduced in the evenings.

He said the tariffs were lower than those imposed by neighbouring district car park authorities and money raised would support a range of transport programmes.

The cabinet approval included a requirement for officers to carry out a review after six months to assess if the changes had made any “discernible” impact.

Conservative group leader Cllr Peter Baillie said it could be “the final straw for a lot of businesses”, accusing the Labour administration of a “money-grabbing scheme”.

Labour council leader Cllr Lorna Fielker said she recognised it was “always controversial” to raise parking charges and to remove free parking, but highlighted the inclusion of the review process.


ldrs logo 200px This article is from the Local Democracy Reporting Service or Shared Data Unit. Some alterations and additions may have been made by our site, which is a partner in the BBC's Local News Partnerships scheme. LDRS journalists are funded by the BBC to cover local authorities and other public service organisations, and content is shared with all partners.


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