Conservative councillors have pledged to fight to retain free car parking as council policy across South Gloucestershire.
They have tabled a motion to this month’s Full Council meeting calling on the council to retain free car parking as council policy now that all three political parties have recently started to run the council through a series of old style committees.
Free parking was introduced across the district in 2004 when the five year Conservative campaign achieved the removal of charges in Kingswood and the council’s previous Conservative Cabinet had pledged to retain free parking.
Hanham Conservative councillor June Bamford commented:
“Introducing car parking charges would be an act of madness and would risk devastating our town and local centres by driving trade away to stores which offer free parking.”
“As a council, we should do what we can to help our traders and shopkeepers to thrive in these tough economic times and so it’s important that we send a united message that every South Gloucestershire Councillor supports retaining free car parking as council policy.”
Downend Conservative councillor Kathy Morris, a former leader of the South Gloucestershire Chamber of Commerce and local Business Link, said:
“It would be disastrous if the actions of the council started a wave of shop closures and left these areas as ghost towns.”
“There is also the serious problem that all charges would do is disperse all the cars onto residential roads and create massive inconvenience for local residents.”
“It took five years of campaigning to achieve free car parking as council policy and not retaining this policy would be a disaster for communities across South Gloucestershire.”
And Conservative councillor for the Severn ward, Matthew Riddle, added:
“A lot of investment and effort has gone into supporting our town and local centres over recent years and to inflict parking charges would undo all that good work at a stroke.”
“And our two-year council tax freeze has saved the average local household £93 – we shouldn’t cancel that out by saddling residents with car parking charges when all they want do to is support their town centres and high streets by shopping locally.”
The motion will be debated at a Full Council meeting on Wednesday 18th July 2012.
Source: Conservative Group on South Gloucestershire Council
“through a series of old style committees.”
From that line alone with its negaltively connoted epithet, I can tell that this ‘article’ is nothing other than the full reproduction of a Tory party press release. Are there any serious journalists behind the Post willing to do a bit of proper work?
“Introducing car parking charges would be an act of madness and would risk devastating our town and local centres by driving trade away to stores which offer free parking.”
That’s a load of laughable bunkum from thicko Bamford. The Kings Chase shopping centre charges for parking and its full all day every day.
““There is also the serious problem that all charges would do is disperse all the cars onto residential roads and create massive inconvenience for local residents.”
And dimwit Morris is just as bad. This already happens on a massive scale in Kingswood.
“And our two-year council tax freeze has saved the average local household £93”
Hogwash Riddle – the council received money from central government to make up the difference and who do you think paid for that, the bleedin tooth fairy?
Oh dear, Felix is not a happy pussy! Just an extremely rude one!
Methinks he should stop acting like the Mekon with his personal hatred of the good guys!