LOCAL resident, Joanna Howes, has criticised Wiltshire Council for their increase in parking permit charges in Westbury car parks with Wiltshire councillor Gordon King agreeing the hike is an ‘unaffordable injustice’.
Joanna told White Horse News, “I live on Warminster Road and have, for the last 3 years, paid for a parking permit in the Warminster Road car park, which has cost me £26 per month. So, in this time I have paid Wiltshire Council roughly £936.
“I have just gone online to renew my permit to find it has gone up to £43 – nearly doubling in price!! I phoned the council and they said they have done it to be in line with other local authorities (which I find hard to believe) and that I could either like it or lump it basically.
“I will have to lump it, as £43 per month is just too expensive for me. I find it a great shame that, rather than support householders and Council Tax payers who are not fortunate enough to have driveways, Wiltshire Council just seeks to cream money off them instead.
“I am now looking for a different place to park. I don’t mind paying for a space, but I think the amount should be reasonable and should not nearly double in one go, particularly for a car park that is full of pot holes, subject to vandalism on Friday and Saturday nights, and pitch dark nearly all of the time because the lights don’t work.
“The greedy council will now be making a bit less money on the car park as they’ll lose my payment and I’ll be very interested to see if other permit holders make alternative arrangements, which will no doubt further clog up the residential streets in the area.”
In response to Joanna’s situation Gordon King, cllr in the Westbury East ward and Wiltshire unitary councillor said, “A 65% increase in charging costs at a time when incomes are rising for some by just 2 or 3% is an unaffordable injustice, especially for residents like Joanna who have no means of parking at their property and who are entirely hostage to this increase.
“ Owing to deep cuts and changes to the way principal councils are funded, Wiltshire needs to find increased revenues to protect services. It has kept the cost down in the past. However, even if other councils are charging more, this sizable increase in permit costs is blatantly unacceptable.
“Wiltshire should put its residents first and link parking permit increases to the cost of living and look for increased revenues elsewhere. I am strongly opposed to this increase. I will work hard with officers and others to find a solution if one is possible.”
A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said, “Before prices were increased, the charge for a season ticket in the Warminster Road car park was 21% of the daily rate. We have increased the charges to £45 per month which represents 36% of the daily rate and still offers considerable savings compared with paying the full daily charge. Many other authorities offer a discount for a season ticket of between 20% and 25%.
“As a result of the consultation last year, we listened to people who said that reducing the discount from around 75% to 50% was too much in one go, so we decided to split that increase over two years. There will therefore be a further increase in November 2019 to bring all season ticket prices up to 50% of the daily rate. That remains a generous discount when compared with other authorities.”
In response to Wiltshire Council’s comments, Gordon King said, “Wiltshire Council may well have previously set a more generous rate than other authorities, and we thank them for that, but to slash the discount (thereby raising the cost) at a time when household incomes are stagnant or rising slowly, will cause a major hit on personal budgets.
“Wiltshire Council did not listen well during their supposed consultation, their desire to drastically decrease the discount is undiminished. These increases will force residents to make different choices which could mean increasing inappropriate “on street” parking or going without in other ways in order to pay the bill. In a Wiltshire “where Everyone Matters” how does that lead to personal resilience or stronger communities?
“Wiltshire Council acknowledged the distress that residents voiced concerning the alterations to these discounts and have chosen to equalise the rate with other authorities twice in the same financial year. That is not listening.”
Westbury Town Council agreed during the town council meeting on Monday 7th January, that their highways, planning & development committee will consider a response to Wiltshire Council following the 65% increase in residents’ car parking permits from £26 to £43 a month.
