Plans to reduce short stay parking fees in Dudley
Dudley Council has revealed more details of planned changes to charges on its car parks which would include reduced fees.
The authority recently announced it intended to introduce a 50p rate for the first half an hour an hour’s parking will cost £1.
Currently an hour’s parking costs betweeen £1.80 and £1.20.
At a meeting of the council’s Communities and Growth Scrutiny Committee on July 22, Dudley’s cabinet member for infrastructure, Cllr Simon Phipps, set out a proposed parking strategy for the borough.
Cllr Phipps said: “We made changes to car parking tariffs in October last year and that has gone a long way to assisting the financial position that the council was in back then.
“That financial position has changed considerably, the council is in a more secure situation.
“That is not the end of the journey we have still got years of making sure we have a balanced budget however one thing everyone in this room would agree is we have an aspiration to support our towns and businesses in our towns.”
Committee members heard the council aims to introduce a wide-ranging parking strategy which would be developed at an estimated cost of £210,000.
Cllr Phipps told councillors money to develop the strategy was not available currently but he hoped it could be included in the 2026/27 budget.
Councillors were also told data from the private contractors now employed by the authority to enforce parking regulations was going to play a big part in shaping future parking strategy.
Private parking enforcement came under attack from Cllr Ian Kettle who described his problems with a ticket machine jammed with coins.
Cllr Kettle said: “If anyone has dealt with these companies they start off giving you a fine and if you say there is something wrong, when you try to appeal the fees go up.
“Anyone who has tried to appeal a £60 parking fine will find it goes up to £150 in a couple of days, having anything to do with these people is really going to bring us into disrepute.”
Cllr Phipps told Cllr Kettle machines and maintenance are the council’s responsibility and the administration of parking tickets is also totally done by the council, not the contractor.
Cllr Phipps added: “I am not aware of any systemic issues when it comes to unfairness in dealing with any appeals. I am not concerned about the behaviour of the contractor that we are using at the moment.”
Speaking when plans for the 50p tariff was announced, Cllr Phipps said: “The 50p charge will be the central focus for a series of tariffs to help shoppers visit our town centres without hitting them in the pocket.”
Council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, added: “Traders have stuck with us through the very difficult decisions we have had to make, and we are very grateful for that.
“One of our priorities is supporting town centres and businesses and this will go some way to achieving that.”
