Walton on Thames pay and display fight continues
By MIKENEWS | Tuesday, May 10, 2011, 16:33
The leader of Surrey County Council has vowed to give the people of Walton on Thames the ultimate say on if and where pay and display parking metres should be introduced.
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People in Walton on Thames are among the thousands who have signed up to fight Surrey County Council's Pay and Display parking plans
The potential for pay and display to be brought in across the county generated an online petition of more than 26,000 signatures. The level of interest and opposition to the proposals forced a debate at County Hall today (Tuesday).
In it, leader of the Tory controlled council, Cllr Andrew Povey, said there would not be a one size fits all solution. He added that in towns such as Walton on Thames the first half hour on street parking could be free before charges kicked in.
“The key factor for local small businesses is the availability of spaces,” he told the meeting. “That’s how you get a customer. That’s why you need churn [people using and leaving parking spaces regularly].”
At the moment, enforcing on street parking in Surrey as a whole costs the county council £500,000. Cllr Povey pledged that when charging comes in, if it does make a profit, this money will be ploughed into road repairs.
However, opposition councillors have been left unimpressed. Cllr Chris Townsend called the proposals “a stab in the back of the local economy” while many others branded it a stealth tax that could sound the death knell for local shops.
More details on how local people can influence if and where pay and display is introduced in Walton on Thames is expected shortly. It is likely to involve making representations to the county council local committee for the area.
Keep an eye on Walton on Thames People for further developments.
Comments
I heard something interesting the other day on how the 'compromise' half hour might work. Apparently it wouldn't be as simple as parking, going to the shops and coming back to your car and heading off – you will still have to get a ticket. The machines will have keyboards and you'll have to type in your car reg, press a button saying you want the free half hour and display this in your car in a usual fashion. Apparently this is so the machine knows if you tried to park for free again within an 'no return' period.
If this is right, it shows the politicians have really missed the point – paying 30p, 40p or even £1 to park for half an hour isn't the issue but faffing about with a machine, punching in a reg, putting the ticket back in the car all to pick up a prescription, buy a paper, pint of milk etc, will be every bit as inconvenient, put shoppers off coming to towns and ultimately put traders out of business.
By Lemonjelly at 17:43 on 19/05/11
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