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Parking Meters In Hereford


Colin James

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I have just read this article in the HT.

 

ParkingMete.jpg

 

Quote

ON-STREET parking charges could soon be coming to Hereford city centre.

Herefordshire Council is going out to consultation on a plan for 22 kerbside parking meters within the city’s historic core.

The Hereford Times has learned that the consultation on the £350,000 scheme potentially worth up to £295,000 a year to the council was signed off at cabinet level this week.

Also proposed is an overall increase in off-street parking charges across the county effective from October and expected to raise an additional £1 million a year for the local authority.

 

 

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I believe this may be illegal. The Barnet case of a couple of years ago would suggest that Councils can not use parking charges to raise revenue:

 

http://www.walkermorris.co.uk/charging-services-%E2%80%93-barnet-parking-permit-case

 

Not that potential illegality has ever deterred Herefordshire Council before. Still, I'm sure the monitoring officer has advised members and senior management on any risks involved.

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I thought Herefordshire Council were going to install pay on exit parking equipment years ago, and this would really help people visiting the City. However, I suppose that might reduce the Council's income from parking fines for people who have overstayed by 10mins. Unless the Council encourage people to stay when visiting the City then of course the High Town shops will struggle. 

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Parking survey thread is here

 

I do concede that Castle Street residents could benefit from Resident Permits but I don't concede that the survey would have concluded that the majority of respondents wanted on street charges. From memory the whole survey was so woolly tho that anyone could massage anything from the results.

 

The meters will inevitably come in and I assume they will also apply to disabled bays. So the fight will now be on to bagsy the best 3 hour double yellow line near the centre .... 

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Heard the word " Consultation " many times with this Council , does it make any difference to the end result !

 

 

 

As an aside - today is Minden Day - by tradition the most junior Officer in the Battery eats a rose head dunked in his/ her drink of choice . I will also have a drink to celebrate about 1400 hrs today. ( apologies Colin for sidetracking )

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Ah, Megilleland!

 

Always to be relied upon in a Handy Link Crisis!

 

Even more of an incentive to get issued the holy grail to people who want/need to park for free .... 

 

image.jpg

 

 

However, there is the potential for an adverse impact on trade if charges deter visitors. Please note that blue badge holders will continue to benefit from the discretionary free parking in council public car parks.

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This bit is interesting, next to the street parking proposal: "It would also provide ongoing revenue to support transport services."  This seems to be the very thing that the Barnet case says they can't do. 

 

The amounts quoted in Bill Tanner's article also suggest that the money they're already raking in far exceeds the actual cost of the scheme. This is a revenue raising excercise, pure and simple. 

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Whats wrong with the council earning revenue from parking? That can't increase council tax and the gov. grant is cut annually, Our local council needs to find new sources of revenue and this is as good a way as any.

It will also have the added benefit of reducing traffic congestion, reducing pollution as well as giving extra business to the bus companies and helping to keep our vaulable bus services viable.

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Whats wrong with the council earning revenue from parking? That can't increase council tax and the gov. grant is cut annually, Our local council needs to find new sources of revenue and this is as good a way as any.

It will also have the added benefit of reducing traffic congestion, reducing pollution as well as giving extra business to the bus companies and helping to keep our vaulable bus services viable.

 

Why should they help themselves to more of our money? They'll only spaff it up the wall on more useless managers recruited from the dregs of the public sector, paying off employees guilty of manifest wrongdoing (e.g the former head of ICT and the former head of PR/Communications), refurbishing their Plough Lane HQ and jobs for the boys projects like Hereford Failures.

 

There's also a wider point here – the road traffic act which regulates car parking schemes is not meant to be a revenue raising measure. Local authorities are using it to generate cash, not to control parking and traffic which is what it is intended for. Councils are breaking the law. Unfortunately, the Barnet case aside, nobody seems able to  take them on.

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Whats wrong with the council earning revenue from parking? 

 

You've answered your own question. They are not attempting to solve a parking problem. They are simply trying to make loads of cash as a revenue stream. The car problem in town is the gridlocked road system with people who are creeping around the 'A' roads in the centre. Probably down to the fact that there is only one viable bridge. 

 

Why do blue badge holders get free parking in the car parks tho? They have the bigger bays, which is fair enough, but are all the holders more skint than yer average driver? I doubt it. 

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  • 2 years later...
Proposals to install Pay and Display machines on some of the city centre’s streets were approved on, Wednesday 9 August 2017.
 
The scheme will include nominal charges for short stays in the heart of the city. Parking charges will apply and cost 50p for up to half an hour and £1 for up to an hour stay. The following streets will be subject to the charges:
 
Aubrey Street
Bridge Street
Broad Street
Gaol Street
Harrison Street
King Street
St John Street
St Owen Street
 

 

Disabled badge holders will be unaffected by the charges and they will continue to be able to park for free whilst displaying their badge.
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Why is there no charging for Castle Street? This street already has 2 hours free parking and I get the impression some who use this street think this also means that you can double park as well. To my mind some of the wealthiest car owners regularly park in Castle street so it would target people who can afford to pay for their parking. 

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Hi Maggie.

I believe they are reducing the parking time allowed on Castle Street to either an hour or thirty minutes, I can't remember which.

Thanks Adamski. Does this mean that parking has been reduced but will still be free when it is not on other City Centre Streets? You rarely see a parking warden in this area and yet if the Council targeted it they could make a fortune every day from what I see of the bad and double parking around there.

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  • 2 months later...

Well, the meters went live this morning and already, across the city, the machines are unable to accept card payments, due to a temporary fault! A notice hastily attached to all machines asks people to pay by phone or coins.

I wonder what happens if you get a ticket whilst finding a cash point, withdrawing cash, buying a Mars bar to get some change (should be refunded by the council!), and then walking back to your car?

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  • 4 weeks later...

NEWS | Emergency meeting held after Church Street businesses express concern over loss of trade due to roadworks and parking charges. 

Sources have told us that a number of businesses are worried they 'may not have enough takings to pay their staff' this week. 

An emergency meeting took place at Hereford Town Hall this evening with traders raising their concerns with cabinet members from Herefordshire Council. Traders in Church Street are worried that they may have to close their doors for good early in the new year if something isn't done to improve footfall in the area. They say increases to parking charges, recent road closures and the introduction of on street parking charges has seen some businesses lose over half their normal trade at this time of year.

Some suggestions were made during the evening and the council are believed to be looking into ideas to support the businesses affected.

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NEWS | Emergency meeting held after Church Street businesses express concern over loss of trade due to roadworks and parking charges. 

 

Sources have told us that a number of businesses are worried they 'may not have enough takings to pay their staff' this week. 

 

An emergency meeting took place at Hereford Town Hall this evening with traders raising their concerns with cabinet members from Herefordshire Council. Traders in Church Street are worried that they may have to close their doors for good early in the new year if something isn't done to improve footfall in the area. They say increases to parking charges, recent road closures and the introduction of on street parking charges has seen some businesses lose over half their normal trade at this time of year.

 

Some suggestions were made during the evening and the council are believed to be looking into ideas to support the businesses affected.

I cannot believe that the introduction of parking meters in selected streets in Hereford have effected traders to this extent to be honest, I parked in Broad St today for an hour for a quid, in the past I could only park here for 30 mins so this is ideal for me, I got my haircut, nipped into M&S and went to the bank. I have seen a photograph on social media showing Church St looking dead quiet but it looks suspiciously like it was taken at night to me, when the shops are all closed.

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I cannot believe that the introduction of parking meters in selected streets in Hereford have effected traders to this extent to be honest, I parked in Broad St today for an hour for a quid, in the past I could only park here for 30 mins so this is ideal for me, I got my haircut, nipped into M&S and went to the bank. I have seen a photograph on social media showing Church St looking dead quiet but it looks suspiciously like it was taken at night to me, when the shops are all closed.

I parked in Broad St yesterday  3rd space down and could not see a parking meter.Better have a closer look next time :-)

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