£50-a-year parking charges get the go-ahead

Oldham Cabinet meeting

AN annual £50 charge is to be made for future residents’ parking schemes.

Cabinet agreed to introduce the fee after hearing that several residents’ parking permit systems are in operation across the borough with the costs of administering them absorbed by the council. The growing burden on shrinking resources increases with each new scheme introduced.

Several new residents’ parking schemes are being developed and the council says budget pressures will grow unless it finds alternative ways to cover costs.

Councillor John McCann said: “People living in Royton should not pay for residents having parking in Shaw and vice versa. It’s for a specific group that should pay if they meet the requirements of the scheme. £1 a week is remarkably cheap to have parking around your home.”

Councillor Howard Sykes said that parking schemes had previously been paid for out of budgets for road resurfacing and tackling potholes.

He said: “There’s no suggestion that the existing schemes will be charged but there’s a benefit for residents if they want them. It will fund itself and not steal resources out of the highways budget. It’s a no-brainer.”

He added that the payment was needed to police and maintain the schemes.