Fears car park tariff changes could put people off visiting town centres

Ticket changes in Caerphilly County Borough Council’s car parks could put people off visiting town centres, a councillor has warned.

The council plans to remove one- and three-hour tariffs from its pay-and-display car parks, where visitors will also have to pay an extra 10p for a two-hour stay.

It argues the moves could encourage longer visits and help boost footfall.

But Cllr Nigel Dix, from Blackwood, said the move could have the opposite effect and mean fewer people decide to use council car parks.

“The one hour rate encouraged people to use the town, and it was affordable,” he said. “I think that’s going to be very detrimental to the town.”

The changes come in a year the council launched a new placemaking plan for Blackwood, setting out ambitions to usher in prosperity and increase visitor numbers.

It argues the new tariffs will “simplify parking and support town centre trade”, and “could help boost footfall and income to support council services”.

But Cllr Dix, the leader of the council’s independent group, said “businesses at the moment are already struggling with things like high energy costs”.

“You can have all the masterplans you want,” he added. “They need footfall, they need people coming into the town. There are a lot of cafes in Blackwood – if you want to pop in for a coffee [the lack of a one-hour tariff] is going to be a deterrent.”

Cllr Dix argued the impact of the changes will be “biggest” in Blackwood, where the council collected more pay-and-display income last year than in the borough’s other main towns.

Figures obtained by another Blackwood representative, Cllr Kevin Etheridge, show the council collected £400,000 in ticket sales from the town’s pay-and-display machines last year, compared with £190,000 in Caerphilly town and £41,000 in Bargoed.

General proposals to increase car parking charges were agreed when councillors approved the local authority’s budget for the coming year, and would deliver reported savings of £45,000 in 2025/26 and then £174,000 annually after that.

Cllr Dix said the specific changes should have been open to dialogue between council leaders and ward members before they were introduced, however.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised the council didn’t involve local members – this has been done arbitrarily,” he said. “We could have come to some compromise.”

However, the council challenged claims there was no opportunity for dialogue.

“A public notice was issued with no objections, and consultation with councillors, ward members, and town councils raised no concerns,” a council spokesperson said.

“While the financial impact is hard to predict, any extra income will help cover car park running costs and support their long-term viability.”