Car park fees frozen to ease trade gloom
Saturday 20th February 2010, 10:38AM GMT.
Car parking fees in Sandwell will be frozen this year in a move to help families stretch their budgets.
Charges for a number of other “frontline” services will also be pinned – and others increased by less than one per cent.
The announcement comes just a day after it was revealed Sandwell residents will face a one per cent rise in council tax – the lowest in the authority’s history.
It follows complaints that parking charges introduced for the first time this month in Wednesbury were hitting trade.
Other services which will see a zero or minimal increase include venue hire, skip rentals, burials and bulky waste collections.
The council’ neighbourhood’s boss Councillor Mahboob Hussain, said: “There will be no increase in car parking charges across the borough. We are keeping the prices at the same level and burial costs will also not increase by more than one per cent.
“We know it’s a difficult time and we are saying we are doing everything possible to keep our frontline services and helping the business community and the rest of the people across the borough to keep the charges as low as we can.”
Higher
The news has been welcomed by traders who fear car parking charges are killing off trade.
Many pay-and-display car parks in Sandwell operate a charge of 20p per hour up to a maximum of £1 for all day. The charges are higher in West Bromwich at 40p per hour.
On Wednesday Sandwell Council announced the one per cent council tax increase, putting the borough at the lowest in the Black Country.
Finance boss Councillor Steve Eling said it was due to efficiency savings made possible without any compulsory redundancies or cutting front line services.
Many local authorities are also keeping tax bills down.
Wolverhampton City Council is for the first time freezing its precept, while Walsall and Cannock Chase councils will have the highest increase at 3.9 per cent, South Staffordshire increase is three per cent and the rise in Dudley will be 1.5 per cent.
By Lisa Wright
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Just shop at merryhill. Leave towns to their fates in the hands of councillors!!
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Why are you paying to park at all?
This again is another ”British disease”. It don’t happen anywhere else in Europe.
You get screwed everyway over there but you don’t do anything about it so you deserve it.
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Merry hill will soon be introducing parking charges they will have too if they are going to be the main town of the dudley Borough
its not right that they have free shopping when town centres have to pay unfair charges
friends of dudley town centre
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It’s absolutely right that Merryhill should have free parking. Why should we have to pay to shop? They are there to encourage us to spend money and not the other way round. Towns should also be free to encourage business and thats the councils fault. Merryhill answers to no one other than it’s customers and thats how it should be!!
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steveBriscoe don’t forget to wash that dummy that you just spit out, lol, guess you missed this headline recently, Merry Hill will not implement parking charges because they know it will be the death of the Merry Hill shopping centre, I remember the last time they mentioned it, a number of large stores moved out over night and they didn’t return after, Westfield are not stupid and they are big enough to put those council Muppets in their place, Money Talks steveBriscoe!!!
Merry Hill fees U-turn
“Controversial plans to introduce parking charges at Merry Hill Shopping Centre have been shelved indefinitely, it was revealed today.
Complex owner Westfield said today there were “no current plans” to start forcing shoppers to pay for car parks. It had planned to charge 50p for an hour.
The charges would have gone up to £3.50 for five hours and £1.50 increments for each additional hour.
The plans were opposed by stores at the Brierley Hill centre, which include Marks & Spencer, Debenhams, Asda and Sainsbury’s.
And today it was confirmed that the move has been dropped”
steveBriscoe No Parking Charges at Merry Hill, END OF STORY.
Jim of bearwood.
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Dudley Council has been increasing parking fees always using the story that “Merry Hill will be bringing them in soon”. They even used that tale in order to doubel parking fees in Brierley Hill. The agreement was that parking fees would be brough in if the expansion of Merry Hill/Waterfront came about. With the Waterfront a ghost town and Merry Hill losing shops the expansion has been put on hold, and with it the parking fees. Dudley Council doesn’t care, their plan is to concentrate all shoping at Merry Hill Centre and leave the other three major towns in the Borough to die. Of course Merry HIll Centre is scared about parking charges, a lot of people only go there because its free.
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I used to live in Tividale and live in Thornlands now which is a suburb SE of Brisbane, australia. Everywhere here except in the city is free parking. I have lived here for 2 years now and the only time i have had to pay parking fee’s is at the airport when picking up visiting releatives. In Australia it is your human right to drive to places for recreation and shopping and not have to pay parking fees. When i go shopping and then to the beach or park i can park my car not worry about only having 2 hours to shop etc. I can take as long as i like, enjoy a coffee or cold drink. At the weekend I shall be driving up to the sunshine coast park on free car park and wheel the essky out for something to eat and drink and relax.
The solution for people in britain is to not go to fee paying places. Then see how long it is before free parking is back. The british have no backbone. Unite.
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I can’t believe Sandwell MBC’s making people pay to park in Wednesbury & Carters Green. Any sane person would think these places need to encourage people to visit these places & not scare them off with another unneeded tax.
Now to make it worse Morrison’s in Wedesbury charging 50p to park & you can only claim it back if you spend over a fiver. It made it a very expensive loaf of bread.
It’s almost like the council hate the idea of it’s residents getting something for nothing.
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Paul Edwards, summed up perfectly!!!!
“The solution for people in Britain is to not go to fee paying places. Then see how long it is before free parking is back”.
Again exactly right and that’s what’s happening, that’s why places like Dudley, West Bromwich etc are dead, the people of this country hate success with a passion, this is born out by the fact that they constantly support Dudley Councillors when they attempt to force Westfield’s, the owners of Merry Hill to impose parking charges on shoppers.
You would think that the electorate would be hammering on the doors of councils proclaiming they wanted the parking fees removed, Naaaaaaaaaaa the gutless British would rather side with Councillors whose only intention is to constantly campaign to bring Merry Hill in line with other shopping centres in the borough, Dudley Council will not rest until Merry Hill becomes just another run down shopping centre, then they will be satisfied they have shown Westfield’s who is in control.
“The british have no backbone. Unite” Summed up perfectly.
Jim of bearwood.
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