Caerphilly County Borough Council has decided to drop plans to charge for car parking at park and ride sites – for now.
The Plaid Cymru-led executive cabinet has deferred the scheme to levy a £1.50 charge for at least a year.
It was due to be introduced from April but the better-than-expected financial settlement the council recently received from the Welsh Assembly has meant the scheme can be postponed.
Cllr Rob Gough, who has cabinet responsibilities for transportation, said: “The settlement we received was better than expected. In addition to that, due to the management skills of our officers we have made £12.5m savings in the current financial year.
“That has enabled us to take another look at the proposed park and ride charges and defer their introduction. We do not want to place extra burdens on our residents in these difficult times.”
Councillor Colin Mann, deputy leader and cabinet member for corporate finance, procurement and sustainability said the local authority had listened after more than 100 complaints about the £1.50 a day charge.
He said: “When we made the original decision to impose charges we were facing the daunting task of potentially having to make £36m of savings and so had to make some very difficult choices.”
Councillor Whittle added: “We have always prided ourselves on being a listening council. There were considerable objections and we have listened to what the public has said.”
The £1.50 parking charge would have applied at Caerphilly, Ystrad Mynach, Bargoed, Aber, Hengoed, Newbridge, Risca and Pontymister, Pengam and Rhymney stations.
The plan was fiercely opposed by Labour AM Jeff Cuthbert who spoke out several times against it.
I'm very pleased that the Plaid Council has decided not to proceed with their plans to charge for park and ride. But I notice that the plans are not abandoned and have been deferred for one year. They should be scrapped completely.
Plaid also acknowledge that they've received a better than expected settlement from the Labour led Assembly.
Experts in the field of public transport have told me that park and ride must be free so that people are not discouraged from switching from cars to trains. And this seems common sense to me.
But I'm glad that the Plaid Council has listened to me and many others on this matter at least for the time being.
You can't help but wonder at the number of U-turns performed by this Council! Are there more to come? And is the closeness of the Assembly elections a factor?
Well personally I am just pleased they changed their minds.Well done.They did promise to be a listening council.
The Labour Group in Caerphilly opposed these charges from the beginning and will continue to fight against their imposition in the future. In my Ward, there is a station which is surrounded by terraced houses and they already have major problems with commuter parking, even before the charges.
Jeff Cuthbert is right- Plaid U Turns are stacking up. Failing to go ahead with a new school at Rhydri, a hugely expensive waste transfer station at Trehir, closing one stop shops around Caerphilly, introducing rail parking charges at our stations. Without pressure from the Labour opposition in Caerphilly we would be stuck with these awful decisions. There are still quite a few that have got through- the closure of Risca care home for example- and no doubt more to come. We will not give up.