Council ready to cut parking fees

EMPTY spaces in the Union Street car park next to Gallery Oldham

OLDHAM Council is looking at whether to reduce car-parking charges to attract more people into the town centre, the Chronicle can reveal.

With motorists under pressure from soaring fuel costs and talk of congestion charges, bosses say they want to encourage people to keep coming into Oldham.

If the move is implemented, it will go against comments made by Local Government Minister John Healey, who told the Local Government Association that councils should charge more for basic services such as off-street parking.

He said: “Only one in five councils uses charging to the full potential — not just to cover costs but to shape its area by reducing congestion, improving levels of health and exercise and encouraging the use of shops.

“Half of councils do not even have a clear policy on charging to guide their decisions on how to use their powers.”

But Oldham’s cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, Councillor Mark Alcock, said: “We understand that parking can be a problem in all large towns and cities, and that motorists are feeling pressure from both increases in the price of petrol and the cost of living.

“We are looking at the cost of parking in Oldham town centre, but we are not looking at increasing the charges.

“If anything we are looking at reducing charges to encourage more people to shop and use the other facilities.

“We have to look at the cost of parking, to make sure that it is self-financing and so that we also have the resources to reinvest in the infrastructure.

“While we agree with the Government that more should be done to encourage people to walk wherever possible, we do not feel that increasing parking charges is the right way to go about it.

“Any increase in the cost of parking would disproportionately affect those on a low income, and would do little to ease congestion in and around the town centre.”

Earlier this year it was revealed that Oldham Council collected £2.4 million from motorists last year through car parks, meters, resident permits, season tickets and fines.

After expenses, including equipment, the wages of traffic wardens and the cost of operating and maintaining car parks, the council made £812,000 — a 9 per cent rise on the £742,000 it took the previous year.