Tories to end scandal of rocketing parking costs
THE Tories yesterday vowed to end Labour’s war on motorists, which has created a “parking nightmare” in towns and cities across the country.
Figures show that town halls are raking in bumper revenues from parking tickets and fines.
The amount paid by drivers has soared by more than two-thirds since Labour came to power. It hit £490million last year, up from £290million in 1997.
Tory local government spokesman Caroline Spelman promised to “stop families and local shops being hit with aggressive parking fines, unfair parking charges and cuts to the number of parking spaces”.
She blamed guidance issued by John Prescott in 2001 instructing councils to “use parking charges to encourage use of alternative modes of transport”.
And she said restricting the number of parking places at new developments had created chaos in many towns. Ms Spelman said: “Thanks to rules imposed by Labour ministers, families and local firms now face a parking nightmare.
“Stressed-out drivers now have to run the gauntlet of unfair parking fines, soaring parking charges and a lack of parking spaces. Conservatives will call off Labour’s war on the motorist, and work to provide more parking spaces to help small shops prosper in local high streets and assist mums struggling with their family shop.”
Ms Spelman said a Tory Government would abolish guidance that encourages councils to force up car parking charges. It would also scrap the restrictions on the number of parking places in new developments.
The move was given a cautious welcome by AA president Ed King. He said: “We would like to see a major review of parking policy. One problem is that too many local authorities have become dependent on income from parking.
“As a result parking has become an issue of revenue raising rather than traffic management and this pendulum has swung too far."
“But, whichever Government comes in, it will have to persuade local authorities to give up some of this revenue which will be difficult. A lot more could be done to make parking easier and fairer so motorists know where, when and how they can park.”
A spokeswoman for the British Parking Association said: “Whatever parking policy is introduced by this Government, or the next, the over-arching role of the industry and the BPA as its representative body is to ensure that legislation is enforced fairly and appropriately, and that a balance is maintained between the limited available space and access to it by the motorist.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Communities and Local Government admitted that councils could use parking policies to encourage use of public transport but said it was never intended as a revenue-raiser.
She said: “The Government is clear that councils should never use parking charges as a tool to raise revenue."
"The planning rules do not require councils to set high fees, instead the guidance encourages authorities to set the appropriate number for parking space standards in the local area, using controlled parking where necessary and encourages the design of new development so that it reduces the need to travel or encourages the use of public transport.”
