Controversial new parking charges in Sandwell’s town centres are set to be approved. The new proposals for car parks in Oldbury and Blackheath are set to be approved by council chiefs at a meeting next week.
But shoppers and traders will be spared shelling out to park during the Christmas period.
And the planned charges have been slashed in half after the pay-and-display tariff put forward last month sparked fury.
The charges in Oldbury and Blackheath are now expected to come into force on January 1.
Motorists will pay half the rates paid in West Bromwich town centre, with charges ranging from 20p for one hour to 80p for four hours.
Plans for a four-hour maximum stay have also been scrapped with a £1 charge for all-day parking.
Monthly and annual permits have also been reduced to £15 and £125, a 50 per cent reduction on the original proposals. Christ Church Primary School in Albert Road, Oldbury, will be given free parking passes to hand out to parents to park between 9am and 9.30am and 3pm to 3.30pm.
Councillor Mahboob Hussain said the reduction in the planned prices were in response to consultation with the public.
But secretary of Blackheath Business and Community Association, Councillor Mary Docker, said the charges were still going to hit trade in the towns.
4 Comments
“Sandwell’s boss Allison Fraser earns oooopppppps sorry my mistake, gets paid £139,461”!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our Part Time councillors pay themselves free pensions, well they are free to the councillors, it’s the electorate that has to foot the bill.
Our council appear to have forgot why we pay our council tax, our roads don’t get cleaned, our storm drains don’t get cleaned out, with the result that our roads and houses get flooded out.
Home visits by our out of hours doctors don’t exist anymore, our hospitals are death traps because of MRSA and CDiff.
The quickest way to kill off a shopping centre is to charge for parking, that’s why Merry Hill suddenly dropped the idea, they were persuaded to drop this motoring tax after several large retailers closed down their stores and left the Merry Hill Centre.
Its about time we had councillors that actually looked at the facts and then decided on an intelligent course of action, continually taxing the electorate will do only one thing, drive them away from shops that are struggling to stay in business.
To the hard working people who live in the real world, this further tax is the final straw, the banking industries incompetence has put many on the edge of bankruptcy and people are unable to pay their debts, but this council appears to be living in a bubble, they are totally ignoring the fact that many people have lost their jobs, they just think they can pick a number out of the air anytime they want more money and people will pay it.
How can this council treat the residents with such contempt, get rid of the parking restrictions before Sandwell becomes a ghost town, people don’t go to work to pay all their money towards supporting a council that couldn’t run a kids party, they go to work to earn money to support their families, not to support the lavish lifestyles of councillors.
Jim of Bearwood.
Christ Church Primary School in Albert Road, Oldbury, will be given free parking passes to hand out to parents to park between 9am and 9.30am and 3pm to 3.30pm.
You can bet they will get tickets, at 9.31 & 3.31 = 1minute after the time expires.
It wil kill off the town’s yes but why do they only have to pay half of what West Bromwich pay? will Wednesbury be next ? kill that off as well, I agree with Jim of Bearwood, councilors look after themselves. just look at the Angel of West Bromwich, already a forgone conclusion, come on Midlanders get a backbone and stick together contest all these charges for parking anf planning for death trap Angels
This decision makes a sham of democracy as the decision has already been decided by the members, what is the point of consultation!