Proposed parking charges show 'utter contempt for motorists'

11:00am Wednesday 14th November 2012 in Truro

Liberal Democrats at Cornwall Council have condemned the Tory-led authority's proposed parking charges for next year.

"These proposals show utter contempt for motorists, for localism and for reality," said Cllr Alex Folkes, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group.

"Quite simply they are treating motorists as a cash cow, but they won't make the money they think they will and local shops and businesses will be the ones who suffer."

"The council consulted local areas on the right charges for their areas. But the cabinet is proposing increasing these amounts by inflation. Not only does that defeat the object of some of the proposed charges, but it also won't work.

"They tried this trick last year but yet again the parking service failed to meet its income target and had to be bailed out to the tune of £3 million. That cash came from delaying road safety work and re-surfacing."

Comments(15)

Gill Zella Martin says...
11:22am Wed 14 Nov 12

Oh dear not good news for all those that promote the Conservative party.

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meerkats says...
4:38pm Wed 14 Nov 12

This is not a step in the right direction to boost trade in towns and is certainly not good news for the public and traders.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
7:11pm Wed 14 Nov 12

Once again the cabinet are making the decision, get rid of the cabinet and have a committee system.

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Ian Bennett says...
7:33am Thu 15 Nov 12

Or perhaps leave it up to individual town councils to determine the best strategy to suit their needs. Better yet, sell the car parks to private operators and let them make decisions on a commercial basis. They are far more likely to be sensible because their own money is at stake.

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veritassleuth says...
12:40pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Talk about the lunatics taking over the asylum. Since the Conservatives with Lid Dem support decided to dump the previous leader, and put doddery old Jim Curry in the post we have had

20% pay rise for Councillors. Previous leader would have vetoed.

These outrageous parking charges increases. previous leader would have vetoed.

Unless the Conservatives do something fast about this fool of a geriatric leading the council, who lets face it might as well defect to the Lib Dems, they dont stand a hope in hell of getting control next year.

Why dont you tories wake up. If Jim Curry was a member of the Lib Dems, he could not have done more harm to the tories that this poor hapless individual. Whats the betting he will soon be defecting, either to become and independent, or a Lib Dem

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veritassleuth says...
12:41pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Talk about the lunatics taking over the asylum. Since the Conservatives with Lid Dem support decided to dump the previous leader, and put doddery old Jim Curry in the post we have had

20% pay rise for Councillors. Previous leader would have vetoed.

These outrageous parking charges increases. previous leader would have vetoed.

Unless the Conservatives do something fast about this fool of a geriatric leading the council, who lets face it might as well defect to the Lib Dems, they dont stand a hope in hell of getting control next year.

Why dont you tories wake up. If Jim Curry was a member of the Lib Dems, he could not have done more harm to the tories that this poor hapless individual. Whats the betting he will soon be defecting, either to become and independent, or a Lib Dem

Report this post »

veritassleuth says...
12:41pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Talk about the lunatics taking over the asylum. Since the Conservatives with Lid Dem support decided to dump the previous leader, and put doddery old Jim Curry in the post we have had

20% pay rise for Councillors. Previous leader would have vetoed.

These outrageous parking charges increases. previous leader would have vetoed.

Unless the Conservatives do something fast about this fool of a geriatric leading the council, who lets face it might as well defect to the Lib Dems, they dont stand a hope in hell of getting control next year.

Why dont you tories wake up. If Jim Curry was a member of the Lib Dems, he could not have done more harm to the tories that this poor hapless individual. Whats the betting he will soon be defecting, either to become and independent, or a Lib Dem

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ronedgcumbe says...
3:52pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Sometime it seems the council is actually trying to destroy the smaller town centers. Only the supermarkets gain from this.

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meerkats says...
4:31pm Thu 15 Nov 12

ronedgcumbe wrote:
Sometime it seems the council is actually trying to destroy the smaller town centers. Only the supermarkets gain from this.
I agree with your comment, the council is certainly not doing much to help them. The supermarkets will gain,as they have free parking and sell practically everything.

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Bess Trecoa says...
6:37pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Well maybe Helston town council should have had free or subsidised parking in way such as Camborne has.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
7:00pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Ian Bennett wrote:
Or perhaps leave it up to individual town councils to determine the best strategy to suit their needs. Better yet, sell the car parks to private operators and let them make decisions on a commercial basis. They are far more likely to be sensible because their own money is at stake.
If the car-parks were privatized though, the charges could be really high, like hospital car-parking charges.
I do however agree it should be the town councils that decide. The parking advisory panel did discuss individual needs with local town councils but unfortunately the final decision is not made by them. Shame Cornwall Council are not so keen to pass the car-parks on to the town councils in the same way that they want to hand the toilets over.

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ronedgcumbe says...
7:28pm Thu 15 Nov 12

Certainly agree with Bess Trecoa. The town council in Helston has gone down the wrong route with the supermarkets money. Subsidised parking is always the best way to help town centres. You have to start with a level playing field when you compete with the supermarkets.

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Gill Zella Martin says...
7:54pm Thu 15 Nov 12

I think if the town council has no control over the car-park charges then extra free parking bays should be introduced with a time limit for parking on them for an hour. I personally will continue to park in the Tyack Road or Trengrouse Way car-parks but I suspect a lot of people will be detered if the parking charges are altered yet again in favour of Cornwall Council.

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ElevenEleven says...
3:29pm Mon 19 Nov 12

Cornwall Council had a report produced last year (at the cost of god-knows-how-much) pretty much condemning their whole approach to car parking and warning them that putting up charges will only drive people away from town centres and they would probably end up with less revenue.

It seems they have chosen to ignore that report and press on with their agenda to ruin our town centres for good.

Roll on next year's local elections...

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molesworth says...
7:41am Wed 21 Nov 12

Instigate free parking and they will come.
How to make shoppers stay away; charge them to park. It's not rocket science! Can no one see this apart from me? Establish free parking in Falmouth and it would be like market day every day.
And don't try and compete with supermarkets. High streets should become centres for fashion; specialist food; antiques; hairdressers; bicycles; sex toys; designer furnishings; pound shops; party shops; pasty shops; you get the picture...

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