North Yorkshire County are proposing to increase parking charges with a flat fee of £2 after 6pm on a weekday and the normal tariff on a Sunday. Currently both these times currently offer free parking.
County Council have made claims that the changes are necessary to improve business in Harrogate as it would enable a greater turnover of spaces.
We are yet to find any local businesses that support these proposed changes, but would welcome any to contact us at news@harrogate-news.co.uk
Although the official consultation period is now over, you can still complete our online poll.
The decision will be discussed next month by the Area Committee, the forum of the district county councillors. The Area Committee will vote and make their recommendation to the Executive Committee of the County Council.
Just another kick in the nuts to the retail and restaurants in Harrogate whilst the council line their pockets.
Undoubtedly the management of on street parking in Harrogate could be controlled with the disc and other systems. Charging I imagine must be therefore for two reasons, firstly to try to reduce the volume of traffic coming into the town and secondly for revenue raising. It is difficult to assess how effectively it addresses the level of traffic without access to the relevant statistical information (perhaps it would be useful for us to know). However as County Councillor Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire’s Executive Member for Highways has apparently stated that ‘there is no substantiated evidence to show that reasonable parking charges deter visitors to town centres’ ,it would appear that charging to reduce vehicle numbers is an ineffective method in this instance. So essentially the main reason to charge is to raise revenue. It is effectively a tax on bringing your car into Harrogate to use its facilities.
Perhaps if this fact were honestly expressed and the reasons behind the charges clearly explained then it would be easier to feel less resentful having to pay to use our local town.
I think it would also help, if it is felt there is a genuine need to charge with counter benefits to the community, if the charging system was less cynical. Half an hour is rarely enough time to do a few basic chores so one often over pays (you used to be able to pay for three quarters of an hour) also the fees charged i.e. irregular amounts mean that quite often you have to overpay as you don’t have the correct change.
Harrogate is also a town serving a large rural community, areas of which are not served by public transport so people have no option but to pay to use their local town rather exploiting a captive market. It’s not as if there is a park and ride option! Undoubtedly businesses in the town, particularly independents, must be detrimentally affected. There have certainly been times when I might have made a purchase but have had to leave to get back to my car because of time being chopped up into half hour increments. 5 minutes more and a sale might have been made.
To have the charges as they currently stand starting at 8am in the morning before the majority of shops are open just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, who is it targeting? It feels as if it is trying to ‘catch out’ unwitting visitors and perhaps people who have been out the night before and responsibly taking a taxi home. it never strikes me as being very friendly or a positive re-enforcement of valued business or responsible behavior.
It would be good to know what the revenue raised is used for, why not put a few signs near the meters giving a brief explanation? Not all towns charge, so obviously it doesn’t have to be the case, but if there is some community benefit it would be good to know what it was!
Unless the need for charging can be demonstrated or benefit derived clearly explained, my stance would be not to charge at all for on street parking and I certainly don’t think there should be further charges. Free parking would probably improve traffic management and I think it would make Harrogate feel more welcoming and less aggressive place, people wouldn’t feel under pressure to leave but it would probably self regulate after all we all have busy lives. It would also reduce administration costs and the town wouldn’t be littered by unsightly machines particularly the one on the junction of Raglan Street and West Park which obscures the view of oncoming traffic when trying to turn right! However, even if there is a demonstrable benefit to the inhabitants and visitors for charging then I still feel that the first hour should be free so that the locals can get their jobs done without feeling fleeced and visitors might get a better impression of the town.The core message here is to communicate, be honest and less cynical in the way you charge and explain to us the benefits received by charging us to park.