Web Forum: Parking plan

Mar 9 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Kirklees proposal to charge teachers to park in schools revealed

SteveB commented: “People are using cheaper, privately run car parks rather than Kirklees’ own, so the KMC solution is to put the prices up? Really clever, that.

“How about making it so that people ‘can’ pay to use the car parks if they want to – take the St Andrew’s Road car park, it’s pay and display machine only takes coins. When people are paying £4 for a day’s parking it’s unreasonable not to accept banknotes.”

“Yet more incompetence from KMC, I’m afraid.”

markmyword added: “So the council has gone in for some ‘blue sky’ thinking. All organisations do similar things. It doesn’t mean that the more outlandish ideas will ever get past being written down, discussed and laughed about.

“I found most interesting the reduced usage of town centre parking as a consequence of the recession and the ‘cheap’ private car parks that now ring Huddersfield. Perhaps that should be telling the councillors and officers that their charges are too high.

“Kirklees are always saying that they want to keep the 68 ‘commercial’ centres viable and vibrant. Wouldn't starting to charge for car parking in some of these sites be rather self defeating?”

idlejohn fumed: “Kirklees Council hate having cars in the town centre but don’t they just love the money they generate?

“People have been driven out of the town centre by high charges and lack of shops as they have moved out of the town to outlying areas. If KMC then start to charge for parking in the outlying areas then all that will do is force people onto the trading estates where parking is free and kill off trade in the villages as well.

“KMC would not make good shopkeepers as the retail trade is a complete mystery to them and always has been.”

icalagedone had some advice: “As has already been mentioned, instead of raising parking charges the council should be matching the independent car parks’ charges to get people to use them.

“One look at the long stay car parks that are primarily used by council employees lucky to get a parking permit because of their jobs, and councillors with their free parking permits, should indicate that motorists are taking their custom elsewhere.

“£20 per week to park so that you can go to work is out of my budget and if they manage to close all the free parking within a radius of one mile of the town centre then I for one will be looking at an alternative source of transport to get to work.”