A DISPUTE has arisen over figures for the income of Westbury’s car parks. Westbury Town Council says that figures supplied by Wiltshire Council for the period 2010/11 indicate that a loss was made on the town’s car parks (as reported in the last issue of the White Horse News). But Wiltshire Council now say that the income figures are incorrect and a loss will not be made. The article in WHN quoted town councillor Bill Braid, who is chair of the town council’s car parks working group, saying that Wiltshire Council spends £35,000 on Westbury’s car parks. “At the moment the car parks are costing them £35,000, and the income is £31,000. So they’re losing £4,000,” he said.These figures were supplied to Westbury Town Council on 28th October 2011. However, in a letter to White Horse News, Dick Tonge, Wiltshire Council cabinet member for highways and transport said, “The income was quoted as being £31,000. This is incorrect and refers to 2010/11 when the Town Council provided a subsidy in order to allow some free parking. This subsidy was not continued to 2011/12 and the income for the full year will be £57,000 and not the £31,000 quoted. The car parks are not making a loss.”Westbury Town Council say they can only use the most recent figures which have been supplied to them by Wiltshire Council, and say that the latest car parking figures are difficult to obtain.Cllr Bill Braid said, “I’ve had this problem all the time I’ve had to deal with car parks. You always have trouble and never get a reply – the council should reply even if it’s just an acknowledgment. “I wrote to Jane Scott [leader of Wiltshire Council], who said she’d ask Dick Tonge to arrange a meeting. In the end we had a two- minute conversation, he reacted as if he didn’t know the figures, and it ended with him saying he needed to talk to Jane. In my mind that is not arranging or having a meeting.” The Westbury car parks working group is trying to obtain further monthly figures for one hour and two hour parking. The group has been working to see if there is a way to enter into a new arrangement with Wiltshire Council in the hope of returning a period of free parking to the town. A Westbury Town Council and Westbury Chamber of Commerce petition, which challenges Wiltshire Council’s car parking charges policy, has been signed by over 3,500 people. However, Wiltshire cllr Dick Tonge insists that the income from car parking charges is necessary to subsidise buses, to bring people into town to do their shopping. “In Westbury the town bus subsidy is approximately £61,000 annually,” he said. “Without this subsidy these buses would not exist.“I’m sure that if there were to be a petition of these individuals they would prefer that drivers pay a reasonable 40p for the first hour parking rather than have their sole means of transport put at risk.”
