Double Yellow

An investigation by TTel has established that at least 150 councils have brought in new parking charges this year, or are considering such a move.  These included 40 councils that have either introduced, or plan to introduce, parking charges in areas where parking was previously free and 12 councils that are extending chargeable hours or bringing in weekend charging to raise extra funds.  The areas affected include:

• Milton Keynes, where the council is preparing to charge for 5,000 spaces that are currently free – bringing in an extra £2.2 million a year.
• Brent, in north-west London, where the council agreed on Wednesday to increase residents' permit charges and introduce an emission-based charging regime that will raise an extra £1.1 million.
• Babergh, in Suffolk, and Broxtowe, in Nottinghamshire, where parking charges will be introduced for the first time.
• Blackpool, where, in April, prices in three car parks more than trebled to £7.50 for a four to 12-hour ticket, up from £2.20. At one of the town's long-stay car parks, minimum rates increased from 50p for up to one hour, to £2.30 for up to two hours.
• Northampton, where the cost of joining the residents' parking scheme rose sevenfold, from £50 to £350.

Motoring organisations said the charges were effectively a tax on the motorist, and said they could be subject to legal challenges because they were designed to raise revenue rather than ease congestion.  Small businesses warned that the changes could also hurt the economy.

However, local authorities defended the increases and said the extra revenue would be reinvested in road safety.

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