Liberal Democrat and Labour Wokingham Borough councillors have failed to support the overwhelming views of residents by voting to continue with doubling car parking charges.
Conservative Councillors had brought a ‘Call In’ of the original decision, having found that it was made in breach of the Council’s rules.
An extraordinary meeting of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee on Tuesday evening (25/10/22) looked again at the Liberal/Labour policy increasing car parking charges across the Borough by up to 125 percent.
During the meeting, the Executive Member, Cllr Paul Fishwick, conceded that there could be a chance of car park shock, meaning that footfall could fall in town centres in the Borough as residents are priced out of using the car parks.
Councillors heard from residents and business owners who gave evidence to the committee on the recovery of town centres since the pandemic. They also spoke about the cost of parking for people working in shops and unpaid volunteers in charity shops.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Fishwick repeatedly failed to respond to questions on the cost of running town centre car parks. Neither he, nor officers, were able to provide the committee with the revenue figures from the Borough’s car parks, either for previous years or the projected figures for this financial year.
Cllr Fishwick said that he didn’t “have that detail of that break down”. When asked if they knew how much it cost to run the car parks they were also unable to give a number. He was further unable to answer when asked what profit the car parks made. Cllr Fishwick stated that there was a ”gap” in the car parking budget but could not explain where it came from. Car parking revenue in 2021/22 has bounced back since the pandemic and when asked the lead member said that it was more than 90% of pre-pandemic levels.
The Committee was also told that Liberal Democrat Councillors believed the Council should discourage residents from making inappropriate journeys, but struggled to define what this meant.
Wokingham Borough Conservatives presented a petition of over 4,200 signatures against the Liberal/Labour Coalition plan to double parking charges at the last Full Council Meeting.
Despite this, Liberal Democrat councillors, supported by a Labour councillor, voted to continue to the charges increase.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, Leader of the Conservative Group, said:
“I am glad that councillors were able to hear from our residents and business owners about their experiences and the difficulties they will face as a result of these eye watering charges. Unfortunately, Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors did not vote to reconsider this policy.
“Local businesses, still recovering from the effects of the Covid pandemic, are understandably concerned that doubling parking charges put off people from coming into our towns and villages - especially at a time when household budgets are being squeezed.
“It was disappointing that Cllr Fishwick was unable to answer my questions about the cost of running the car parks or about the revenue and profit the Borough’s car parks bring in.
“The Council has a Constitution, which provides a fair and transparent framework with which to make policy decisions. This is essential to the democratic process in Wokingham.
For the second night in a row Liberal Democratic and Labour Councillors have voted not to uphold the Constitution.”
