Pembrokeshire County Council cabinet will meet on Monday 07/09/09 to decide on possible new car parking charges.  There has been no discussion on this recently and Bob Kilmister has written the following letter to the Cabinet.  We will see what happens!  I would love to hear your views.

Dear Cabinet Members,

I would like you to take into account when making your decision on Monday 07/09/09 the following views.  I apologise for the length of this letter.

I spent 29 years in the retail trade with J Sainsbury Plc managing for 12 years units with a turnover that ranged from £5.2 million per annum to £18 million per annum (1988 to 2000).  I managed both town centre and out of town units and as a result I believe I have considerable experience and expertise in this area.

Supermarkets NEVER charge for car parking unless they are forced to by local authorities.  They are not charitable organisations and they are run to make maximum profit at all times.  Units where parking charges apply, trade at a considerably lower level than those where no charges apply.  Local authorities do not seem to understand this concept because they see car parking as a possible positive revenue stream.  However it is my view that by imposing these charges, they harm the town centres that they should be protecting.  They then blame the supermarket for destroying local trade, when in reality it is their lack of understanding of that trade which has caused the problem.  The fact that most local authorities charge relatively high rates for parking does not alter my assertion.  To show this point effectively I will provide the following example.  Dudley in the West Midlands used to have a thriving town centre and market.  When a redundant steel works was made into a shopping centre the local authority maintained their car parking charges whereas the shopping centre had none.  Dudley town centre is now a ghost town but the shopping centre goes from strength to strength.  There are many other examples elsewhere in the Country.  This authority does not need to follow other local authorities and make the same mistakes as they have already done.  The Independent retail sector needs considerable help to survive but where it thrives it puts much more back into the economy than any authority might gain in short term revenue.

I represent a very rural area.  It is broadly split into two.  Dinas is midway between Fishguard and Newport but does have two shops.  It is however extremely difficult to purchase all your food requirements so travelling to either centre is a requirement.  There is a bus service but carrying groceries on a bus limits the elderly and so most use a car.  Imposing car park charges will therefore be a stealth tax for these residents.  Newport car park also serves the local surgery where most of Dinas Cross residents are registered.  Again this will impose a stealth tax on their health. Dinas Cross Community Council discussed this last night and is opposed to any charges for these reasons.  I believe they are writing to John Davies but their letter will not arrive until Monday morning.

The rest of the area I represent is completely rural with no shops and no bus service. Residents here can choose to shop in Fishguard, Newport or Haverfordwest as all are roughly the same distance.  Currently large numbers choose Fishguard.  Imposing car parking charges will send most of these instead to the large supermarkets in Haverfordwest.  Again the proposed car parking charges represent a stealth tax against rural communities.  They already have less facilities, are hit by government fuel policy and now you propose to tax them once again. The Cwm Gwaun CC met on Wednesday and are opposed to the charges and again they are writing to object.  Puncheston CC does not meet until next week and so has not responded because they have not had the opportunity.

The report to Cabinet does not contain any financial figures. I cannot see how you can make a judgement without seeing projections.  How much will the ticket machines cost including installation?  How will these machines be serviced and the money collected?  Who will patrol the car parks to ensure that regulations are being enforced?  How much will vandalism to the machines cost?  Super glue in coin slots can be an extremely common occurrence.  All of this bureaucracy and extra service provision costs and when the proposed charge in Fishguard and Newports case is mainly 30p, I fail to understand how this will produce a reasonable revenue stream.  It will adversely affect the Town concerned in the middle of a recession but contribute very little to Council finances.

The Buchanan report suggest and I quote “We recommend that no charges be introduced in the West Street car park until the new supermarket has been trading and the impacts of this can be better understood.”   Why has this recommendation been ignored and charges proposed for this car park?

I have made no mention of off street parking problems that will inevitably happen.  I have also only mentioned Fishguard and Newport as these are the places affected by those I represent.  I am sure others will have similar arguments for their localities.

I would request that the Cabinet sends this matter to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee so it can look at all the facts in a proper manner and then make appropriate recommendations. 

If Cabinet does approve these charges then I would request that the members of the Environment and Overview Scrutiny Committee call this matter in.

Regards

Bob Kilmister

Dinas Cross Ward

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