Townsfolk from Clevedon and Portishead have urged North Somerset Council to avoid a “catastrophe” by ditching its plans to end free parking in the towns.
The council’s executive had voted in October to end free parking in a host of locations across both towns and Nailsea. But the plans were “called in” to a council scrutiny panel by councillors Tim Snaden (Portishead North, Portishead Independent) and Luke Smith (Clevedon West, Conservative) who warned the decision had been “troubling.”
Nine people from Clevedon and Portishead spoke at the scrutiny panel meeting on November 11, warning that the charges could cause a “catastrophe” for independent shops on Clevedon ’s Hill Road and would mean that people in Portishead would have to pay to drive to the Lake Grounds.
READ MORE: Girl’s death on M5 leaves police officers and witnesses ‘devastated’
READ MORE: Farmers slam ‘crazy’ plans to flood 1,500 acres to save fish from Hinkley Point C
The scrutiny panel has no powers to overturn the decision or require a vote to happen at full council — but requested that the executive look at mitigations to address specific impacts.
Paul Gardner, a Portishead Independent on Portishead Town Council, had told councillors: “The lake grounds is our local park — the jewel in the crown. […] North Somerset Council is just the latest steward of this land which belongs to the people of Portishead.”
Under the parking charges plan passed by the council, it will cost £1.50 to park at the Lake Grounds for an hour and £4 or £8 to park there all day, depending on whether it is an “off-peak” or “peak” time. Justine Flower, who lives by the Lake Grounds, warned the charges would push more cars onto residential roads.
Ruth Smith, a trustee of Portishead Open Air Pool, warned it could also damage the numbers of people going to the pool — and be an extra cost for volunteers. She said: “We are a charity and have to cover our costs and the volunteers enable us to operate that way. […] Staff are coming to us concerned.”
Meanwhile Tom Vaughan of Clevedon Business Improvement District said that in a meeting of 20 businesses, all were “appalled” at the plans for charges in Clevedon. He told councillors: “I do hope you listen because this will have a damaging effect on local businesses and I fear it will have a damaging effect on the council.”
David Sims, of Books on the Hill, said: “We are very very frightened. We are frightened that the proposal to bring in street parking charges to Hill Road will cause a catastrophe in visitor numbers to Hill Road. […] This proposal could decimate a shopping street that has evolved over the years.”
He added that Hill Road was the only shopping street where on street parking charges were now proposed. He added: “The mix of shops and cafes creates an experience that most towns and councils aspire to.”
Mark Canniford, the executive member for spatial planning, placemaking, and economy, is not a member of the scrutiny panel but attended the meeting to observe. He defended the plans. A Spar proprietor, Mr Canniford said: “I was on the high street when parking charges were introduced in Weston. I had several businesses and it had no effect on business overall.”
He added: “I use Books on the Hill. It’s where I buy my books to go on holiday. And sometimes I can’t park, therefore I go off to Clifton or I go off to Cribbs.”
Debating the call-in, scrutiny panel member Ash Cartman (Long Ashton, Liberal Democrat) said he was not against parking charges in principle, but said: “This is less a parking strategy than a financial strategy.”
He added: “It’s a Trojan tax — that’s what I’d call it — secretly bringing in tax rises to fill a gap in council finances.”
Helen Thornton (Weston-super-Mare Uphill, Labour) said: “I agree with councillor Cartman that this is about finance — but our finances are dire.”
The council has warned it is in a “financial emergency” and risks having to issue a section 114 notice if it cannot balance its budget. At the meeting on October 16 where the council executive voted to bring in the charges, council leader Mike Bell said: “We cannot justify subsidising parking when we are having to cut care services for vulnerable adults and children.”
North Somerset Council expects to make £1.05m a year from the charges, although operating costs and paying off borrowing to bring the relevant infrastructure in means it would only keep £479k of this as profit each year.
After a two-hour long meeting, the panel voted 9-2 to resolve that the majority of the panel supported the introduction of the charges but was “concerned about the impact of the proposals on local businesses, community clubs, community groups, and residents.”
The panel called on the executive to develop mitigations to address these impacts. Mr Cannifor said: “I’m happy to make these considerations. […] That seems very reasonable.”
It is planned that the new parking charges will be rolled out in stages, with the first introduced in February. Not all car parks will have parking charges introduced. In most car parks affected, it will cost £1 to park for an hour, £1.50 to park for two hours, £2.50 for three hours, and £3.50 for all day. But parking at some locations — including Portishead ’s lake grounds and Clevedon’s Hill Road — will cost more, with one hour’s parking costing £1.50.