Fury in Westbury as council ends free parking subsidy
7:30am Wednesday 3rd March 2010 in News By James Williams
Former Westbury mayor Mike Hawkins
A Westbury town councillor has described Wiltshire Council’s behaviour as ‘amateurish’ after it announced it would not subside the town's free parking from next month.
Cllr Stephen Andrews informed the town council of Wiltshire Council’s stance at a meeting at the Laverton on Monday night.
The councillor, who is head of the town council’s car parks working group, said he met with Wiltshire Council's traffic manager, Andrew Wyatt, and Wiltshire Council portfolio holder for Highways and Transport, Dick Tonge, to discuss car parking charges on February 18, but said they gave no indication that charges would be enforced.
At the moment, Westbury Town Council pays £8,300 a per to provide two hours free parking at both the Warminster Road and High Street car parks, but will now have to stump up an extra £22,500 for just an hour's free parking in its two main car parks.
These changes are due to come into force on April 1.
On Monday, former Westbury mayor, Cllr Mike Hawkins, lambasted Wiltshire Council for giving the town council only 30 days to find a solution.
“The way they have handled this is completely amateurish,” he said.
“What we are seeing here is a disgusting act by a unitary authority. They’ve set their budgets so why leave it until now, knowing our budget had to be set by early January, to drop it on us?
“I saw one of the Wiltshire Council vans today in the High Street car park parked across two bays with no ticket displayed, perhaps they can collect that £60 fine to go towards keeping the parking free.
“I think the whole thing stinks and I think to have to pay anymore than we have to pay now is wrong.”
The council dropped standing orders to allow Westbury Chamber of Commerce chairman and Wiltshire Council member for Westbury North, David Jenkins, who was sat in the public gallery, to address the meeting.
He said: “The economy in Wiltshire and Westbury is particularly fragile.
“We do advertise free parking and members wouldn’t be happy if we introduced parking charges.”
After the meeting, Wiltshire Council portfolio holder for Highways and Transport, Cllr Dick Tonge, said Wiltshire Council could no longer pay the £80,000 to keep Westbury’s two car parks free.
"We have to pay for business rates on the car parks, repairs, lighting and enforcement," he said.
“We just feel it’s wrong that the rest of the people in Wiltshire should be subsidising the free car parking in Westbury.”
He also said a discussion had taken place in December between then Wiltshire Council service director for sustainable transport, Alan Feist, and former Westbury Town Council clerk, Les Fry, about the possibility of introducing car parking charges in the town.
The town council proposed to ‘reluctantly’ support one hour free parking in the town by paying an extra £22,500 to their current £8,300 subsidy.
Councillors agreed that £15,000 should come from the town council’s reserves, and £7,500 would be applied for from the Westbury Area Board.
Comments(9)
cght36
says...
9:25am Wed 3 Mar 10
onthesofa
says...
10:35am Wed 3 Mar 10
onthesofa
says...
11:58am Wed 3 Mar 10
Cunning Linguist
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12:09pm Wed 3 Mar 10
1) A Charity Shop
2) A take a way
3) An estate agent
1 hour's parking is more than enough, infact, 5 minutes will do as there is very little to entice you to the town centre. If Mum's want to meet up, try walking into town with your kids, Westbury is hardly a large town and you can walk everywhere you need to go. Older people can use the Westbury Hopper with their bus pass.
Now the Town council want to waste £100k getting rid of the rotunda that has only been up for 15 years, what gonna happen to the clock?
Russell Hawker
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1:01pm Wed 3 Mar 10
The town council voted unanimously to subsidise free parking in the existing designated spaces in the two main town centre car parks for 1 hour, which is the maximum we felt we could realistically afford.
There will always be people who think only of their own needs and resent any money being spent for the benefit of others - even their own town community and neighbours.
The town council spends money on a wide range of services, facilities, community projects and community events to help make Westbury a better place but not everyone will use these facilities or attend the events. It's a complex and thankless balancing act.
The one claim above which I feel must be corrected is the nonsense about the rotunda. This project will be paid for by Wiltshire Council only. The town council is just a consultee.
With my hat on as a Wiltshire Councillor and current chairman of the Westbury Area Board, I must stress that this project went to full public consultation last summer and local people and traders voted overwhelmingly to remove the routunda and replace it with a more logical layout so that people can more easily see from High Street across to Maristow Street and vice versa. This is important to increase people walking from one part to the other and to improve trade. This point has been endorsed in every report undertaken by expert professional consultants on the matter starting with the original "5 Town Initiative Report" undertaken in the late 90s by Donaldsons Chartered Surveyors - town centre shopping specialists.
The fault for the issue of the rotunda lies with the fools who put it in in the first place as it has ruined the town centre, which used to be far more successful in so many ways.
The clock will stay in the same place or move sideways a bit.
Vox Pop
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12:28pm Thu 4 Mar 10
cght36 wrote:Rightly or wrongly, the covenant protecting free parking in the multi-storey stack dates back to when it was built in 1973 and is legally watertight. So that pre-dates the current administration and many before it.
but ask westbury residents to keep the multi storey car park free for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and to pay for all your other amenities aswell!!!
chloe2727
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1:30pm Sun 7 Mar 10
Cunning Linguist wrote:i just registered to comment but you beat me to it...in fact you summed my thoughts up exactly!
There is nothing worth while about Westbury Town Centre unless you want
1) A Charity Shop
2) A take a way
3) An estate agent
1 hour's parking is more than enough, infact, 5 minutes will do as there is very little to entice you to the town centre. If Mum's want to meet up, try walking into town with your kids, Westbury is hardly a large town and you can walk everywhere you need to go. Older people can use the Westbury Hopper with their bus pass.
Now the Town council want to waste £100k getting rid of the rotunda that has only been up for 15 years, what gonna happen to the clock?
ive lived here all my life...over 4 decades, in that time ive seen the amount of shops decline...there is nothing here...where can you buy clothes,sewing items,footwear,decen
t toys and gifts, nowhere!..we have two chemists almost next door to each other,every other 'shop' is either a second hand shop or estate agents and as for the rotunda its just a place for kids and drunks to hang out after dark! I remember junior fayre (pram and toy shop) the kiosk,the mona lisa hairdressers,dewhurs
t the butcher,harpers,touc
hwood,a womans clothes shop (cant remember name)..a shoe shop in maristow street, tots to teens in the market place and the recently and highly missed expressions,to name but a few..shopping in westbury used to be a pleasure..i remember looking forward to Saturday when i could go up town with my mother..so many shops...so many people..
Westbury needs something to draw people in...then maybe visitors wouldnt mind paying for parking...who wants to pay to park when there is bu**er all here..
hugh jarrs
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2:55pm Mon 8 Mar 10
blamethebiscuits says...
9:00am Wed 3 Mar 10