Off-street car park charges will more than double next year after disgruntled opponents of the plan were defeated at last night’s committee meeting. 

Cllr Bill Soane told Wokingham Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny management committee that raising prices in the borough would have “considerable effect” on local businesses and residents, calling the scheme “ill thought out”. 

Council leader Cllr Clive Jones has said all services are facing “unprecedented financial pressure” due to inflation and spiralling energy costs. The local authority is, therefore, looking to see where it can raise more revenue in order to “balance the books”.   

“We know these […] increases won’t prove popular, particularly when there’s pressure on all kinds of living costs, but our parking fees have been exceptionally low for a long time and we can’t afford to keep them where they are,” he added. 

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The decision to raise parking charges was taken at the executive meeting in September, however, five councillors challenged the decision by raising a ‘call-in’ – a method to scrutinise decisions believed to go against the local authority’s decision-making principles. 

Cllr Soane argued that Woodley’s “thriving nightlife economy” will be affected as they try to recover from the pandemic, whilst the town’s market will “suffer a reduction in footfall” due to the implementation of Sunday charges. 

Woodley town centre manager, Brian Fennelly, also raised the issue of Sunday charges. He said businesses don’t see it as a “normal day” due to reduced trading hours and increased cost of staff, calling the changes a “devastating blow” to traders after Covid. 

The income collected from car parking helps maintain the borough’s roads and footways. Increasing the charges from January will raise about £500,000 for the council, however, due to an £800,000 shortfall in parking revenue, there would still be more than £300,000 outstanding.   

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Even with the rises, the borough’s parking charges will remain at the lower end of the scale compared with other local authorities.    

Despite this, the owner of Woodley Pets, Michaela Dalton, is “very unhappy” with the rises. She explained trade was still 28 per cent down on last year and is now “concerned footfall will reduce further”. 

If the shortfall in parking costs was not covered, then it would need to be found by cutting other services such as highway repairs. 

Committee member Cllr Adrian Mather said the council “can’t have their cake and eat it”, noting that the consequences of not increasing the charges will mean “more potholes [and] safety issues” as a result. 

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Six of the 11 members of the committee voted to confirm the original executive’s decision, meaning the plan was upheld. 

Parking for up to one-hour will now go from 80p to £1.30 (a 62.5 per cent rise), whilst up to two hours will more than double from £1.20 to £2.50 (a 108 per cent rise), up to four hours from £2 to £4.50 (a 125 per cent rise), up to six hours from £3 to £6.50 (a 117 per cent rise), and over six hours from £4 to £9 (a 125 per cent rise).