Wokingham Town Focus

Parking meter bid sparks fresh anger

By Victoria Corbett
June 22, 2009

Parking meters limiting drivers to a half hour visit in Wokingham town centre could make £350,000 a year.

Wokingham Borough Council bosses say the cash made through the project would be ploughed back into schemes to benefit the town centre.

But traders and motorists have called for the plan to be sheolved, labelling it a money making scheme.

Traders agree keeping a half an hour daytime limit on the bays, which are located around the town centre, does help trade.

Wokingham Borough Council has proposed charging £1 for half an hour’s parking for town centre bays, which it estimates would generate £350,000 a year.

This would cover the set-up costs and also fund the parking attendants needed to enforce the system, leaving a sizeable chunk for council coffers.

Councillor Keith Baker, executive member for highways and transport, said: “Someone is going to have to pay for the additional attendant to do the work.

“The machines themselves have to be funded, so there is a capital cost there as well, and ongoing maintenance costs.

“The income would be reinvested in things like the town centre, so there would be a benefit.

“We have got to make it a particular cost to be a bit of a deterrent to people staying too long.”

It is down to police to enforce parking in the bays, however one trader reported their business partner has stayed past the limit before and not received a ticket.

Denise Winterbourne, owner of Eden Lounge hairdressers in Peach Street, which has some of the council-owned parking bays outside, said: “Our customers do use the bays when they are having a half an hour appointment, if they are then going to be charged £1 for half an hour that is disgusting.

“I think they should make some of the bays disabled only.

“The fact the council have put car parking charges up also means they are not doing a lot to help Wokingham town centre.”

Jean Bettison, who owns The Tamarind Tree restaurant in Peach Street, added charging for the bays would not be right.

She said: “Our customers do not use those bays, they use the car parks, but there is a bookmakers along here and a pizza takeaway which are places

people parking there would visit.

“They want to pull in and pick something up and come out again. If you have to pay for it, it is unreasonable. It is an additional tax on your pizza or your bet.”

There are 188 parking bays located around the town, however some are further out and may see a lesser charge than £1.

The council’s overview and scrutiny committee will take a closer look at the scheme and a consultation will take place over the summer.

The Wokingham Times reported earlier this month how the executive committee noted the bays could improve trade in the town by stopping drivers from abusing the time limits.

A report on the scheme notes: “There may be a negative reaction to the scheme from the shopkeepers, businesses and residents.”

It adds the economic downturn could have an impact on the predicted revenue.

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I object to the proposals to install parking meters in the presently time limited and free parking spaces in Wokingham. I think the arguments about people overstaying the allowed time is over stated. It is on only rare occasions that I have not been able to park on one of these spaces whenever I visit the town. Naturally I have always observed the time restriction and have observed others doing so also. I think it is a very retrograde step and will remove one of the things that make the town different from everywhere else. If the parking meters are installed I and many others will simply not visit the town. Why should we? There are few operating shops and all the banks, building societies and estate agents are accessible on-line. I cannot believe it is a money making proposition as the cost of installing the meters and the cost of employing staff to police them, must far outweigh the revenue. After all, for every parking warden there must be a back office staff to issue fines and send out the paperwork. Why not publish the financial facts and figures and the statistics of those who have been inconvenienced by the present system, so that the general public can evaluate them. Is the basis of this proposal a Government policy directive? Is there a Government financial incentive to do this? I think the WBC is being over zealous.

Oddzon, Wokingham
11/08/2009 at 14:45

Stating the obvious but would it not be cheaper for Wokingham to take over enforcement of waiting and parking restrictions including the existing 30minute limited waiting bays from the non existent Thames Valley Police Traffic Wardens.

It's called decriminalisation and it's done by many other local authorities. No need to pay for machines, just pay for a few enforcement officers to walk past every 45 minutes noting number plates and stick a ticket on anyone there over 30 minutes.