Vale parking decision stokes anger

Ted Peskett Local Democracy Reporter

A Barry Island business owner claimed traders have not been listened to after Vale of Glamorgan Council decided to go ahead with controversial car parking charge plans.

The local authority’s cabinet members decided at a meeting on Thursday, July 3, to get rid of free parking at a number of on-street car parking spots in Barry Island and Penarth seafront three months after agreeing to look again at their proposals.

Vale Council argues the charges will increase the turnover of visitors at both towns and generate income to maintain facilities there.

However business owners like Louis Ross of Barrybados Gift Shop in Barry Island are worried that it will drive customers away – particularly regular customers who they rely on during the quieter winter months.

Louis said: “As a trading community we have tried several times over six months to engage with the council about this issue but the council have not been interested.

“We wanted to tell them first hand about the long winters and having a destination with zero free parking during the winter is severely damaging to our winter trade.

“We all open later and close earlier. Some days we don’t open at all.

“Now if locals have to start paying to come here they will just come less and find other places to go that offer free parking.

“This will impact trade, which will result in hours being cut.”

Charges

The following on-street locations will be affected by new parking charges:

Barry Island

• Paget Road – 54 spaces
• Breaksea Drive – 56 spaces
• Friars Road – 8 spaces (excludes disabled parking)
• Station Approach Road – 49 spaces

Penarth seafront

• The Esplanade – 42 spaces
• Cliff Hill – 58 spaces
• Cliff Parade – 26 Spaces
• Beach Road (Part) – 13 spaces
• Bridgeman Road (Part) – 12 spaces

Vale of Glamorgan Council was also met with opposition from traders in Penarth when it announced its car parking charge plans earlier this year.

Petitions were set up for both towns with one in Barry Island gaining 3,337 signatures and the Penarth petition gaining 2,997 signatures.

Support

However not all business owners have been opposed to the council’s plans.

One business owner we spoke with in Penarth said he agreed with the council’s proposal, complaining that some people take advantage of the two hours free parking on the seafront and that customers are left struggling to find a space.

Following a scrutiny committee meeting in March the council agreed to review its car parking charge plans.

However the only obvious change that’s been made to the original proposal is the times that people will be charged.

Vale of Glamorgan Council is proposing to charge for parking at these locations seven days a week between the hours of 10am and 6pm.

There will be a maximum stay period of four hours. Parking will be charged as follows:

• Up to two hours – £2.50
• Up to three hours – £4
• Up to four hours – £6

The initial proposals for parking on-street were to charge for seven days a week from 8am to 6pm at a similar hourly fee scale.

Louis added: “We are concerned about peoples’ jobs during winter. It’s a shame the council doesn’t share the same level of concern as we do.

“They have gone against the recommendations of traders, residents, the scrutiny committee, and their own Labour councillors by implementing on-street parking charges all year round without any winter concession.

“Our winter trade is going to be damaged and they are willing to trial it for two years to see if it works or not.

“A lot can happen in two years and if we see even the smallest of drops in trade during the winter we will have to cut hours of our staff.

“We’ve tried to tell the council this but they will not engage with us on any level. We want to work with the council to find the right solution for all, we still do, but there’s no willingness on their part to even engage at the slightest.”

A consultation process is currently under way before the new car parking charges come into force.

Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for neighbourhood and building services, Cllr Mark Wilson, said the later start time for charging is aimed at helping traders who need to unload stock in the mornings.

He said at last week’s cabinet meeting: “These are very popular resorts. We want to encourage people to visit those resorts.

“We don’t want them to go… around in circles finding a space.

“I would also like to emphasise here that there are legal implications. We also looked at the equality act and we also looked at road traffic [access].

“One of the things I would like to emphasise is that the money generated here will be reinvested into improving the actual roads around that area and that’s very important.”

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s original car parking plans also included a proposal to close Court Road multi-storey car park in Barry.

The council said the facility is costing them £80,000 a year to operate but some local councillors argue it is still needed.

Plaid Cymru councillor for the Buttrills ward in Barry, Cllr Ian Johnson, said: “The time at which users enter the car park and the length of time they are there shows that the main users are the local school, which has no alternative car park, and staff working on Holton Road.

“They [the council] keep saying that they want to make Barry a better place so why do they have nothing to offer the centre of town?

“This is quite literally levelling down rather than levelling up.”

Vale of Glamorgan Council will review car parking charges at on-street sites in Barry Island and Penarth 24 months after their implementation.