Car parking reviewed
by Borough Council
Rushcliffe Borough Council is moving towards a conclusion of the review of parking at its off-street car parks throughout the borough (except in West Bridgford). A member panel (sub-committee) met several times to listen to local representatives and consider alternative policies for parking management. Its proposals went forward to the Place Shaping and Community Engagement Group, which approved them and passed them forward to Cabinet for a final decision, which is due to be made on 3 June.
In brief, the proposals are:
Bingham and Radcliffe: introduce pay-and-display at the 3 car parks in Bingham and 2 in Radcliffe. The charges will be 30p for 1 hour or £1 for 2 hours. At the Newgate Street (Bingham) and Walkers Yard (Radcliffe) car parks, it will also be possible to pay £2 to park for 3 hours.
Keyworth Bunny Lane: continue with unlimited free parking, but keep the situation under review in case demand sharply increases.
Keyworth Church Drive: introduce some free short-stay parking for the benefit of casual shoppers.
Rushcliffe Country Park (near Ruddington): introduce parking charges at a flat rate of £1, but with 1 hour free parking on each visit.
The overall aim is to make parking spaces available throughout the day for short-stay shoppers, while not trying to make or lose money. The charges at the Country Park are to help with the cost of security. Further investigations will take place into providing long-stay parking in Bingham.
My own views are that Bingham (especially) and Radcliffe (not so much) are getting to the situation where action needs to be taken to free up parking spaces during the day. Otherwise shoppers will be deterred from going there, and shopkeepers will suffer. I agree that Keyworth doesn't need any charging, though Church Drive needs some short-stay parking because of the all-day parking by school teachers.
However, I think the proposals for the Country Park are confusing and unnecessary. Whatever the level of charges, the Council will always lose money on parking at this site. Better to leave it at free parking, and regard the cost of security (together with all the other costs of running the Country Park) as a legitimate charge on the council-tax payer.
