Anger as council pushes ahead with ‘unjust’ charges at three beauty spots
Birmingham City Council is pushing ahead with its controversial plans to introduce new charges at three beauty spots.
The financial turmoil at the Labour-run council has resulted in an enormous wave of ‘savings’ and cuts to local services, as well as hikes in council tax.
These divisive changes have impacted bin collections, libraries, street lighting, culture, adult social care day centres, pest control charges for rats and much, much more.
But one proposal which has proved particularly controversial is the one to introduce parking charges at three of the city’ most picturesque parks – Lickey Hills, Sutton Park and Sheldon Country Park.
The council’s plans have been met by opposition, with 919 respondents of an informal consultation (78.4 per cent) feeling access to Lickey Hills should remain free.
For Sheldon Country Park, that figure was 120 respondents (65.9 per cent) while for Sutton Park it was 2,741 respondents (68.2 per cent).
After the proposals took an important step last month, both Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors said they were planning to challenge the decision by requesting a ‘call-in’ in a bid for further scrutiny.
At a neighbourhoods scrutiny meeting this month, where the requests were considered, Liberal Democrats councillor Paul Tilsley and Colin Green called for a rethink of the proposals.
They had previously argued that the parking charges at Sheldon Country Park could end up costing the council money and claimed they could also lead to parking problems in the area.
“The harm that will be done is beyond bearing for the residents,” Coun Green said. “Why is this decision being made – it ought to be looked at again.”
The second call-in request by Conservative councillors David Pears, Adrian Delaney and Richard Parkin previously added that the consultation responses show an “overwhelming opposition” to the proposals.
Coun Delaney said previous proposals for parking charges had been met with “considerable opposition”, adding: “It is no different this time.”
During the meeting, Coun Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment, responded to such concerns by saying the council’s administration had listened to the results of the consultation.
“You can see we have listened because we have modified the proposals significantly,” he said.
“We have reduced the rates for each scheme; ensured we have free permits for volunteers and are proposing to introduce a 30-minute grace period.
“I do accept however the introduction of parking charges is often controversial.”
Coun Mahmood said in a previous meeting that a third of the city does not drive and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker’s plans to bring the region’s buses back under public control could help further connect communities and strategic parks.
He added at the time: “I asked officers to ensure [the risk register] is as comprehensive as it can be and it is.”
The neighbourhoods scrutiny committee ultimately decided not to ‘call-in’ the decision but said it would like to request more information and a longer process for the consultations going forwards.
Following the meeting, opposition councillors angrily slammed the decision, with Coun Parkin saying: “Labour’s refusal to reconsider these charges shows a complete disregard for resident feedback.”
Coun Delaney added: “This decision represents Labour ignoring the very people they claim to represent.
“Our commitment to fighting these unjust charges remains unwavering and we will continue to press for fairness and accessibility for all park users.”
A recent council report acknowledged that the projected income from the parking charges falls short of the cost of maintaining the three parks in question.
“It is deemed reasonable to ask park users to contribute financially to the upkeep and maintenance of these parks,” it said.
“Despite the introduction of parking charges, there will still be a requirement for financial support from the council’s general fund to maintain and manage these parks.”
The report went on to say that charges across “destination sites” throughout the UK had become common practice and that there was more support for revised parking charges which were lower than the consulted ones.
How much parking charges are set to be
The revised proposed charges for each of the parks can be found below:
Lickey Hills Country Park
£1 per hour up to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
£52 per annum
No change to chargeable hours (9am to 6pm, 365 days a year); a 30 minute ‘grace’ period is proposed in addition
Sutton Park
£1 per hour up to 4 hours, £5.00 all day
£52 per annum
No change to chargeable hours (9am to 6pm, 365 days a year); a 30 minute ‘grace’ period is proposed in addition
Sheldon Country Park
£0.75 per hour up to 3 hours, £3.50 all day
£52 per annum
No change to chargeable hours (9am to 6pm, 365 days a year); a 30 minute ‘grace’ period is proposed in addition
Several issues have plagued the council according to external auditors, including the equal pay debacle, inadequate budget setting, poor service management, demand led pressures and the disastrous implementation of a new IT system.
Labour politicians have also highlighted the impact of funding cuts over the past decade or so on local government.
