Local Conservatives are demanding that car parking be kept free in South Gloucestershire, after the Council announced plans to start charging residents for parking in council owned car parks.
Local residents across Thornbury, Yate, and the surrounding towns and villages have reacted with huge disapproval at the plans as South Gloucestershire has been one of the few remaining parts of England in which car parking fees in Council-owned car parks had been prevented.
It has emerged that the new South Gloucestershire Council Administration have taken the decision to propose charging residents to park in all Council-owned car parks, which includes all the main car parks near Thornbury High Street, the central multi-storey car park in Kingswood, and other key car parks near Yate Shopping Centre. A petition has now been launched by the local MP Luke Hall MP, calling on South Gloucestershire Council to reverse their decisions and keep car parking free. The MP’s petition has already gathered hundreds of signatures since being launched earlier this week.
Luke said: “These plans will be another blow to Thornbury’s High Street. The Council need to give Thornbury a break. All these charges will do is punish local businesses by making customers shop elsewhere, force cars to park in all the surrounding residential roads rather than in designated car parks and reduce access for some of the most vulnerable residents in South Gloucestershire.”
Luke Hall has confirmed that he will be submitting the petition directly to the South Gloucestershire Council and will ask that the plans are urgently reconsidered.
Introducing charges for using car parks is a decision made at a local level, which remain the responsibilities of Local Authorities. The Government has said that is it is committed to ensuring that all decisions affecting motorists are proportionate and done with the consent of local people so that drivers are able to go about their everyday lives without unnecessary impositions.
Cllr Matthew Riddle said, "It is a real pity that the Council have pursued these plans, particularly when they were quite simply unnecessary. Rather than looking for ways the Council can save money and perform more efficiently, they have simply taken the easy option of passing the financial burden to residents through new and increased fees and charges.
In Thornbury alone, 92% of residents remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of parking charges - which was fed into the Council's official consultation.
