Tories Abandon Charging for On-Street Parking (Wokingham Liberal Democrats)

Wokingham Liberal Democrats <info@wokinghamlibdems.org.uk>

Tories Abandon Charging for On-Street Parking

September 24, 2009 12:00 PM

Peach Street free half-hour parking

Lib Dem councillors on Wokingham Borough Council are pleased that the Tory Executive have been forced to abandon their plans to bring in charging to park in the street in Wokingham town centre.

Prue Bray, leader of the Lib Dem group at Wokingham Borough Council said "We are delighted the Tories have finally accepted the overwhelming evidence that this was the wrong time to be introducing charging for on-street parking in Wokingham town centre. The council needs to be encouraging people to come to the town, not driving them away."

She went on to say "You really have to question the judgement of Keith Baker, the Tory Executive Member for Highways and Transport. It was obvious from the start that charging people £1 to pop in to buy a paper or post a letter would harm the vitality of the town. Thanks to Cllr Baker thousands of pounds of council tax payer's money have been wasted drawing up detailed plans for a hare-brained scheme that never should have seen the light of day. In our view Cllr Baker failed to show the judgement residents have a right to expect from a member of the council's Executive."

Lib Dem Councillor Phil Challis, a member of the Overview & Scrutiny committee that unanimously recommended the proposals be abandoned, said "The Executive seems to be incapable of joined up thinking. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee agreed with the Lib Dem view that the council should have an up to date, borough-wide, parking strategy. After this fiasco the Overview and Scrutiny Committee also proposed that consultation be undertaken with residents and interested parties at a much earlier stage in future to avoid wasting money that would be better spent on front line services."