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An unpopular plan to introduce parking meters to Wokingham could be re-introduced to battle drivers who ignore roadside regulations
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Unpopular parking meter plan back on agenda

By Jon Nurse
February 27, 2013

Parking meters or raising car park charges are back on the agenda as pressure mounts to deal with drivers disobeying roadside restrictions.

Council bosses revealed they are considering the unpopular measures which could be introduced as part of the town centre regeneration after they were quizzed on why £106,000 for civil parking enforcement remains unspent.

Highways chief Councillor Keith Baker says the unspent cash and changes would help fund a long-awaited switch of parking enforcement from police to the council.

Cllr Baker said: “It is our aspiration but we are grappling with how to fund the decriminalisation when it starts to make a loss. People think it’s a cash cow but it’s not.

“One potential option is on-street car parking charges which a lot of people would not like. That’s why we are being very tentative.

“At the moment the current view is to connect it with the town centre regeneration which would make sense. We need proper consultation and to make sure people are behind us.”

Robin Ashton, Wokingham Chamber of Commerce vice-president, said: “It’s a difficult conundrum to fix.

“We wouldn’t want anything to happen that could put people off coming to Wokingham.

“We have been quite vociferous in our stance against on-street parking charges and car parking charges is a very touchy issue.”

At Thursday’s full council meeting Cllr Rachelle Shepherd Dubey said: “Bad parking makes residents’ lives a misery and the police don’t have the resources to do anything about it. There was money in the budget for parking enforcement in 2011 – and two years later you still haven’t spent it.

“And you have put £220,000 for it in the capital programme this year.”

Neighbouring authorities that have seized control of parking enforcement lose between £40,000 and £100,000 per year through running costs but Cllr Baker has identified three ways the loss could recouped.

He said: “I would prefer to see it absorbed as a social cost and come out of the Council Tax we raise, but the downside is there could be up to £100,000 coming out of somewhere else. We could raise off-street car parking charges but we won’t want to do that when we’re encouraging more people to come to the town centre.

“The other way is to introduce on-street parking charges which is the way every other council in the immediate area has done it.”

He added there could be another creative solution that is yet to be put to the table. Plans for meters and a £1 charge for 30 minutes parking were abandoned in 2009 after widespread criticism.

The £220,000 is in this year’s budget to account for the two-year process of changing Traffic Regulation Orders to move control to the authority. However, Cllr Baker said no advances will be made until there is a ‘reasonable idea’ of how the loss can be bridged.

Cllr Shepherd Dubey also highlighted parking charges at Dinton Pastures and California Country Park are due to rise in the next financial year.

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@Dave35 - you are right that meters themselves will not directly fix the issue. The reason they are being considerd is that in order to enforce these restrictions we need people (wardens) on the street. Initially, they can be funded from the fines, but as they are more successful the fines income will reduce. The meters are seen as one way of funding these wardens permanently.

As for unitary authorities, well we had regional assemblies until recently. They were "mandated" by Europe and implemented by Labour. They were unelected, and all they seemed to do is tell local councils that they had to build X amounts of houses, without really working the figures out, or understanding whether it was feasbile (eg in Reading where there is no more green space left, except on floodland or playing fields). They were useless unelected government parts of government.

But your comment about saving money when negotiating contracts is accepted, and councils are trying to do just that by merging services together (Re3 being perhaps the most successful example, but others are following swiftly behind).

I suspect the 10-15 would be, 4 in the south (South West, South, South East, London), 4 in the midlands (East Midlands, West Midlands, Cambs/Essex etc, Birmingham), 4 in the middle/north (North East (incl Leeds/Sheffield etc), North West, and Manchester/Liverpool).

I would have concerns that a regional authority, however, would likely not recognise "green belts" currently fixed between local authorities, and towns would probably start merging together. It would also not be able to concentrate on really local issues.

mavdo, Wokingham
01/03/2013 at 15:26

@ Mavdo - I agree with you points regarding safety, parking on zig-zags, blocking roads etc... but parking meters will do nothing to change these issues. As always the council are failing to fix the actual problem and are squandering money where it's not needed. Personally I see no need for borough councils as they are expensive and ineffcient. I would just for 10-15 unitary authorities to cover the country and be done with it. Just think of the savings when negotiating contracts, consolidating business units and standardising services. It would mean there was no need to employee thousands of pointless pen pushers, but only because they genuinely have no purpose.

Dave35
01/03/2013 at 12:10

@Dave35 – It’s not about not being able to park, it’s about people breaking the law for some extra convenience for themselves, while blocking the road for others. Traffic jams and dangerous road conditions for traffic and pedestrians alike are the result. It’s about safety. Parking on zig zag lines is as serious as using your mobile at the wheel. We had a system that monitored that because there were so many people doing it, but we turned it off to save cash.

You are right that squandering tax-payers money isn’t right, just as Cllr Baker said. This scheme needs to be self-funded wherever possible, and utilise current resources, eg wardens from our council car parks. If Europarks can make money from it I'm sure as heck the council can! If on-street meters were introduced, and I'm not saying I would be in favour of that, the income would ensure Wokingham isn’t a free-for-all.

I'm also not saying this should be prioritised over road repairs or a better refuse collection system, which is the most patronising system from people who clearly don't know what they're talking about that I've ever seen.

There are still plenty of costs we can save without having to trim front-line services. Eg Bracknell are employing CEOs for 2 of their council funded services, one being South Hill Park, when managers would do. They are paying tens of thousands for incompetents. Wokingham will have the same crazy schemes where we are paying buckets for people/schemes who/that aren't worth it. Yet we don't often hear about these. I guess the people involved are too powerful.

How about we actually get our binmen to separate our rubbish and recycling as they are paid to do and not to put it all in the landfill side of the lorry? That would save thousands in landfill taxes. But of course everyone's in denial that that is actually happening. Even GetWokingham don't seem to want to run a story on it. I'll get video evidence soon.

mavdo, Wokingham
28/02/2013 at 10:49

Can't help thinking it would be a mistake to penalise everybody because of inconsiderate parking by a few. Not only that but I don't think the existence of parking meters and wardens will prevent the opportunistic parker taking a chance. So, costs can be significantly increased to little or no benefit. While not wishing to divert resources from the murder, rape and pillaging in Wokingham it seems to me we need to get the police to take all their duties seriously - say 1 hour per policeman per week handing out tickets in the worst affected areas. Perhaps the Council should take this up with the new Commissioner.

Tobias
28/02/2013 at 09:02

@ Mavdo -At a time when the council is struggling to provide basic services money is not well spent to simply improve convenience. We have roads in desperate need of repairs, a refuse collection system that has been underfunded and ill thought out. I can't find a space to park in Wokingham said no one ever! This is squandering taxpayers money for little to no benefit to the public.

Dave35
28/02/2013 at 07:23

@Tobias - I agree that for much of the time, you can get a parking space... somewhere. But it could be SO much more convenient if the closest spaces that are reserved for ultra short-stay, free parking were not abused by people who had no intentions of staying for short periods at all.

Examples of areas where it causes problems are:

1) Junction of Broad Street / Rose Street. Many times I have seen people stop here, either on the double yellow, or the white zig-zags, or in the disabled bays outside the post-office because they wanted a quick coffee and sausage roll, or to pop in and buy some stamps. This blocks up traffic right around the corner to Peach Street and blocks buses sometimes completely. Parking on the zig-zags used to be monitored by the camera there, and the penalty is 3 points on your license and a fine. Now, it is not because the camera got "too expensive" to run.

2) Rectory Road. I have often seen cars parked here from dawn til dusk because they work nearby. Nobody can use these spaces to go to the doctors, or pop to the shops, and cars can partially block the main road through town. The doctors car park is always full, even at 8am when they are shut. It is filled simply by the people who work there and Tudor House!

3) Denmark Street. Cars parked on the right hand side block this road up, as do takeaway drivers for the curry houses further down, particularly now when there is a bus waiting zone next to WHSmith.

These are all similar to Cemetary Junction in Reading where illegal parking causes highly dangerous traffic issues 24/7, but where the council and the police are in a constant battle over who should be giving out fines. No fines = lots of illegal and dangerous parking.

If we freed up the short-stay spaces for SHORT STAYS, then the shops would benefit by increased footfall, and the car parks from increased revenue.

We've already got wardens - they patrol the car parks. Why not expand their remit as required?

mavdo, Wokingham
27/02/2013 at 16:20

Tobias, all I have is anecdotal evidence - such as my commute home most days being ruined by some halfwit unloading in the middle of the street, parked up to nip to the bank, parked in disabled spaces, or parked in the space outside my flat that I pay the council £40 to issue and not enforce in any way. There are ALWAYS cars parked illegally in Wokingham. Always. Because there isn't enough enforcement.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
27/02/2013 at 14:08

A note about tax...... from April 2013, you will be able to pay your council tax in 12 monthly installments rather than 10. Makes budgeting a little easier, and keeps your money in your account a little longer. WBC probably not advertising this fact due to loss of interest.

Beef Cake Argh!
27/02/2013 at 14:03

"Welcome to Wokingham the small market town where you can ignore the laws of the road and park where you like! Don't worry the police are too busy and the local authority don't have a parking warden to enforce the laws."

https://www.gov.uk/waiting-and-parking/waiting-and-parking-238

How much would a new sign cost?

Local Woky, Wokingham
27/02/2013 at 13:05

I believe the council already make a profit of £500,000 a year from their car parks, which in theory can only be used for transport related issues.

Couldn't some of this this be used to create a comprehensive parking solution for the borough.

Phil Challis, woodley
27/02/2013 at 12:41

The ticket system is just to evidence the arrival time. It would still need to be monitored but less so. The warden or annoyed resident need only look at the tickets to get the ball rolling. If the users know they are clocked in and may get dobbed in then that is enough.

Kaz4Wokingham, Wokingham
27/02/2013 at 12:25

anyone else amused by the end of the article?

"At Thursday’s full council meeting Cllr Rachelle Shepherd Dubey said:

Please turn to page 3 column 1"

Really... can't you just link?

GuyG
27/02/2013 at 11:06

Mavdo. I don't doubt the instances of abuse you identify do take place. My question though was whether the problems are so significant as to warrant making a loss and where is the evidence? Note that the vast majority of drivers who do not abuse the rules would also have to pay on street parking.

Tobias
27/02/2013 at 10:44

@Tobias - I see it all the time. Rose Street is a common place for people to park all day while they work, and there are plenty of drivers ignoring restrictions on loading or parking on double yellows all around the town centre, eg on Denmark Street, Rectory Road, Elms Road, Norrey Avenue and Alderman Willey Close. The number of drivers who are *moving* the signs and cones from the current restrictions from the water works to drive down closed roads, or park where they shouldn't, is unbelievable.

Drivers in Wokingham flout restrictions because they know there is practically no enforcement. In doing so, they are avoiding charges in our car parks and sometimes causing blockages or restrictions. The sooner we can actually enforce the restrictions the better.

A traffic warden doesn't cost £20k though. That might be the wages, but then there's employee NI costs, pension costs (no a legal requirement), uniform costs (very, very high if just one person), license costs, training, equipment costs (again, very high for one person - they all now have to have a camera or the cases will be taken to court and expensively dismissed), and the cost of processing the fines against all of the nit-picking rules (and rightly so) and so on. Then there's the fact that on a £20k salary, the employee is likely to leave after less than one year, and then there the cost of training and uniform all over again. For one person, I wouldn't be surprised if the costs aren't £100k per year or more. The actual salary is just to tip of the iceberg.

mavdo, Wokingham
27/02/2013 at 10:28

I believe that Wokingham has been going through the process of sorting out traffic wardens for some time, but it is apparently a horrendously complicated process that it has taken at least three years since I first heard about it.

It is a miracle that every other town in the country that has traffic wardens has managed to overcome the complexities.

It would be nice to see something done about the selfish twunts who park outside Greggs and on the corner of Seaford Road/London Road junction to pop into the Coop/use the cashpoint and cause a serious safety issue.