Questions have been asked over Caerphilly County Borough Council’s policy of offering free car parking in Bargoed town centre.
Blackwood councillor Nigel Dix said having the free car parking at Hanbury Road and Cardiff Road was unfair to other motorists in other town centres in the county borough.
Cllr Dix, a Labour councillor, said in 2012/13, Caerphilly town car park generated £184,000 in revenue, Ystrad Mynach generated £45,500 and car parks in Blackwood generated £555,274. In total, car parking charges generated £836,000 in revenue for the council.
He added: “Every town should be contributing to the cost of the council. It is disproportionate and scandalous.
“It needs to be rectified and I am going to fight until it is sorted out.”
Cllr Dix said he had raised the issue with council officers and with Labour colleague Cllr Tom Williams, Cabinet Member for Transportation and Highways.
Cllr Williams said the issue will be looked at by council officers and that Cllr Dix’s views would be taken on board.
He said: “If we did change car parking charges, it would have an effect on town centres and we would have to look at that.”
The council is currently facing criticism over plans to introduce parking charges at its country parks.
There is another way of looking at this in the interest of ‘fairness’, why not just remove the car parking charges from Caerffili and Blackwood. In the PACT meeting of Wednesday 14th May 2014 parking, or the lack of, was voted the number one priority for police. This is because visitors continually park in areas designated for the residents of the town who then find they cannot park in their own street.
I have camapigned for years to remove parking charges in the town’s carparks for stays of two hours or less. This would help the shops of the town and provide some relief for the residents who live in the town centre. The loss of £184,000 revenue from the parking fees could easily be made good by reducing the pay of the council’s top earners to a level appropriate to their role. We have already forked out much more than this to pay wages for the three suspended pending trial.
Careful, talking sense isn’t allowed at Ty-Penallta Towers
That idea would be beneficial. More people in town spending more money means more income for shops, more expansion etc.. It all adds up and benefits the whole area.
The council are backwards in thinking. They could be in an enterprise competition where you are given £1000 to start off with. Whoever makes the most profit, wins. Teams from local schools sell sweets and make £100 profit, another team could buy stocks and make £10. CCBC would spend £500 consulting about the best way to invest the money only to reach the conclusion all ways are too risk so instead they will just keep the money and save it in an account paying no interest.
Or put it into an Icelandic bank and lose most of it!
I think that most motorists expect to be charged when using car parks in towns, it is a bonus to find a free car park – the large free car park at Morrisons Caerphilly is very handy, what motorists find annoying are councils using car parks simply as a way to raise money….we need to find some more money let’s increase car parking charges, or bring in charges where it was once free.
There are many factors which determine the success or failure of a town centre, free car parking alone would not suddenly turn around the fortunes of a failing town centre, if there were plenty of good quality shops and attractions rather than endless charity stores and money lending outlets the visitor would be quite happy to pay to park their car.
Paul, the evidence does not bear out what you say, most motorists prefer to make several circuits of the town in attempt to find a parking space rather than pay. I have watched people do this on many occassions.
I do agree that there are too many charity shops and pawn shops but we cannot expect people to invest their time and money in opening a shop when potential customers either cannot park nearby or are charged for doing so.
Imagine if a supermarket or retail park charged motorists to park. Would people accept this and still go there to shop?
I lived near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire where there were no free car parks even Asda had a car park for hundreds of cars and charged for parking including Sundays, the town centre did very well it was always busy and had plenty of good quality outlets and coffee shops, it was so busy that Asda extended the car park and filled that also – it is easy for store owners to blame low foot fall and falling trade on car parking charges but it is wrong to suggest that trade would increase simply by introducing free parking. Visit Tintern on a weekend – it is £3 to park yet the place is full to bursting. Most motorists accept the fact that if they wish to use a car park then there will be a charge, our shopping habits are changing but the typical high street is still stuck in the past, they need to offer more to attract people back and simply offering free car parking would only be a short term temporary fix not a long term solution.
Paul is right about the charging. I worked in Farnborough for a while which is not a busy town, and the Asda there charged for parking. The reason a lot of people don’t shop at the top of town is because there are very few decent quality outlets (either national or independent). I will go to Cardiff to shop and spend £10 on parking – I don’t like it but I pay it and so do may others, because there are a lot of decent shops in Cardiff. The top of town needs a facelift. Basically once Woolworths and Boots abandoned the top (they were up in Pentrebane street – next to the Market which also needs some serious investment – although I applaud the efforts of those that have tried to bring it back to life, it does need more money spent on it). When Woolies & Boots were up there – so were Curry’s and a few others – the indoor market was also always busy, and that part of Caerphilly was thriving, and the bottom of town where the new centre is, was the dilapidated part. Most of the shops at the top of town look like they are not going to be around for long and generally sell poor quality goods (not all but quite a few). So perhaps the council should try and encourage a big name at the top of town to try and redress the balance.
The fact that the Morrisons car park is free is the absolute reason why the public `footfall` through the bottom of Caerphilly town shops is five times that of the top of town. And the top of town electronic footfall counter even include pupils from St Martins School coming and going, through Cardiff Road, four times during any one day
Until Caerphilly Council alter its charging policy for the Crescent Road and Twyn Car parks to include a period of free parking, the steep decline in trading, in the top of town, will continue.
Local St Martins and Morgan Jones ward Plaid Cymru Councillors have always opposed this move, and continue to oppose it, because it was suggested and continues to be promoted by local Independent Councillors.
You are correct Arthur, Paul refers to a level playing field from his experience of living near Bromsgrove where there were no free parking spaces. In our town there are shops, which are hugely wealthy chain stores, that offer free car parking and small businesses where parking is either charged for by the council or limited to residential streets.
It is this imbalance that independent town councillors have sought to address. I welcome comments by borough councillors to explain why they are against allowing free parking for two hours at council run car parks.