Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Signs The Apocalypse May Be Almost Upon Us, Part II….

A council is actually considering lowering parking costs in order to encourage trade and support local businesses!

No, I didn’t believe it either:
Basildon Council has recommended a major review of parking costs across the district to support shoppers and businesses through the recession.

Suggestions include cutting as much as 20 per cent off season ticket prices at council car parks for the district’s residents and reducing charges for business parking permits by a third, from £150 to £100.
Well, well, well…..
Basildon Council leader Malcolm Buckley said town centres would die without strong businesses and it was important to keep a constant watch on the prices. He added: “We do keep all the charges under review and we are concerned to make sure businesses are supported as best we can.

“If you don’t have businesses that thrive, you have town centres that die.”
It seems that at last some sound business sense is beginning to filter down to town halls.

This recession is really biting hard, isn’t it?
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5 comments:

  1. AntiCitizenOne17 March 2009 at 10:50

    I'd prefer this was done via an LVT, but it's roughly the same.

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  2. Stan17 March 2009 at 10:59

    Town centres have been dying for years thanks to the parking restriction policies of local councils - this will not help one bit. Until local councils stop treating local people and local businesses as cash cows which they milk to support their ever expanding empires - which achieve less and less for the local community - then nothing will change.

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  3. Anonymous17 March 2009 at 11:44

    This fellow, and his colleagues, seem to have clear heads.

    Sadly, they are probably the exceptions.

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  4. Mark Wadsworth17 March 2009 at 15:07

    AC1, I had mused on that before. Car parking charges are pretty close to LVT, and for a scarce number of places, price rationing is nearly always tbe best form of rationing. But it is usually a right faff sorting out the ticket.

    The question is, would scrapping or reducing parking charges increase or reduce the rental values of surrounding properties?

    That I do not know. I can see arguments both ways.

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  5. JuliaM17 March 2009 at 17:13

    "This fellow, and his colleagues, seem to have clear heads.

    Sadly, they are probably the exceptions."

    I'd like to think that one good thing to come out of this recession is a instilling of economic sense into a few politico's heads. A painful lesson, but well worth it in the long run...

    "The question is, would scrapping or reducing parking charges increase or reduce the rental values of surrounding properties?"

    I'd expect it to increase it - it's a 'benefit', after all, not shared by surrounding towns.

    ReplyDelete