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Wiltshire Council Budget 2012/13 - The Liberal Democrat Response

You are here: Home What We Stand For Budget 2011 Introduction of a charging scheme for car parking permits for council premises

Introduction of a charging scheme for car parking permits for council premises

Published on Saturday 19th February 2011 by Jon Hubbard

AlternativeTransportIn April Wiltshire’s residents will see an unprecedented rise in the cost of using council car parks. In Salisbury an annual season ticket for the town centre car parks now costs £1200.

The Liberal Democrats accept that there have to be charges for car parking as car parks have to be maintained and run. However we do feel that the increased charges imposed by the Conservative administration are unfair and excessive.

What is completely unacceptable is that the council continues to provide free parking for its own councillors and staff. We therefore propose to introduce a charge for parking permits for council premises. This charge would be directly linked to salaries, meaning that those who earn more pay more. Typically, a worker earning £26,000 a year would pay £4 per week in year one of the scheme.

Our proposed amendments

The introduction of a charging scheme for car parking permits for council premises.

£0.175m to be raised annually through the introduction of a progressive charging scheme for council employees to park at council premises. This scheme, similar to the one successfully introduced at the RUH in Bath, would see employees paying a small charge, the amount of which is directly linked to their salary, for the privilege of parking their cars at council premises.

Many people see it as hypocritical of this council to be providing over 1400 free parking spaces to staff, highly paid senior officers and councillors whilst at the same time massively increasing the cost to the residents of Wiltshire to park in their towns and villages.
In year one of this scheme £0.100m of the revenue gained would be invested in promoting and providing alternative staff transport schemes, such as encouraging car sharing, investment in providing adequate facilities for cycle storage and the availability of subsidised cycle safety equipment.

This amendment would provide a net increase in revenue to the council of £0.075m.

Our proposal will:

  • Mean that Councillors and Council Staff will contribute towards the cost of providing and maintaining car parks on council premises
  • Provide a fairer solution where every worker pays a share of their salary, rather than a fixed fee
  • Have minimal introductory costs as there is already a permit system, and policing of that system employed by the council
  • Introduce a scheme in year one to promote the use of alternative transport for staff such as car sharing, public transport or cycling

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