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Question from: County Councillor Matthew Dorrance Subject: Suspension of parking charges
Question:
The Council’s suspension of parking charges is scheduled to finish at the end of August.
What assessment has the Council made about the scheme’s impact on town centres?
What consideration has been given to extending the scheme to support our high streets and enable Powys to build back better?
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
The decision for free parking over the summer holiday period was made in these unprecedented times to reflect our commitment to the #supportlocalpowys campaign, to promote the re-opening of the high street and support our local businesses.
With no sound baseline from which to measure in such extraordinary times, and no information of the free use, there is unfortunately no formal assessment or measure that can be made of the impact on car parking numbers or footfall associated with the free parking provided, limiting any assessment to anecdotal or subjective opinions that could be drawn.
You will recall, however that providing free parking for August would generate an additional budget pressure of £85,000 and that this was agreed to be funded Corporately from reserves. The motion to support the extension of this free parking was tabled at the 30 July meeting of Full Council where it was resolved not to support its continuance with 23 votes for the motion of extending the free parking for 6 months compared to 30 against, with 3 abstentions.
Given this, there is no clear mandate to give this matter any further consideration. |