Redcar & Cleveland Council - Parking Charges

Scrote said:
Houchen promised to keep the car-park funding for the life-cycle of his mayorship and then stopped it mid-term.

Councils have a huge problem with finding cash to fund madatory services. They also have very few avenues available to generate extra funds.

Budgets get signed off based on forecasts, so Houchen is very much to blame for the shortfall in funding because he chose to not honour his previous commitment (which I assume was an electoral promise but would need to check).

Unless you can think of another way for RCBC to make up the shortfall?
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They could always charge for parking, stop customers from attending and the empty high street could be further impacted. That should bring money in for them. :mad:
 
Scrote said:
Houchen promised to keep the car-park funding for the life-cycle of his mayorship and then stopped it mid-term.

Councils have a huge problem with finding cash to fund mandatory services. They also have very few avenues available to generate extra funds.

Budgets get signed off based on forecasts, so Houchen is very much to blame for the shortfall in funding because he chose to not honour his previous commitment (which I assume was an electoral promise but would need to check).

Unless you can think of another way for RCBC to make up the shortfall?
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That's too short sighted.

There will be no income from the car parking once they have succeeded in killing off the high street for good.

Get more people in, more shops full (even at lower rent) and the economy of the towns will recover, meaning more money for councils.
 
sherlock1969 said:
That's too short sighted.

There will be no income from the car parking once they have succeeded in killing off the high street for good.

Get more people in, more shops full (even at lower rent) and the economy of the towns will recover, meaning more money for councils.
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They have to find money to fund mandatory services NOW. Longer-term plans don't really come into it.

They were promised x and budgeted accordingly. Now they have to find x in a hurry with very limited options when it comes to commercial ventures.
 
Scrote said:
They have to find money to fund mandatory services NOW. Longer-term plans don't really come into it.

They were promised x and budgeted accordingly. Now they have to find x in a hurry with very limited options when it comes to commercial ventures.
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Then next year they'll have to find x+x+x....
 
Norman_Conquest said:
They could always charge for parking, stop customers from attending and the empty high street could be further impacted. That should bring money in for them. :mad:
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Scrote said:
Unless you can think of another way for RCBC to make up the shortfall?
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Finding a balance between generating revenue and ensuring accessibility for shoppers is crucial for maintaining the vitality of high street shopping areas.
 
sherlock1969 said:
Town centres all over the country are dying and government/councils need to be more creative to get the empty shops filled and the footfall back.

Free parking and much lower rents for shops would be a good place to start.
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There's a reason why they're dying in this country whilst thriving in others and it's nothing to do with parking charges.
 
Scrote said:
Yes, but they will have been able to budget accordingly. The problem here is that promised funding has been withdrawn.
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How will they budget for an empty high street? Redcar High Street is on its backside and charging for parking is not going to help.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
How will they budget for an empty high street? Redcar High Street is on its backside and charging for parking is not going to help.
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I don't understand the question. What is the problem you're wanting solved?

If the high-street is dead and no-one is coming then why is introducing parking charges a problem?

If the high-street is thriving but parking-charges are going to kill it then you need to come up with an answer as to how the council balances it's budget now that promised funding has been withdrawn.

There are limited avenues availble to generate revenue and the withdrawal of funding needs to be solved right away.

Mandatory services have to be provided and the cost of those has already put the finances in the red. National funding for local councils is way below what it needs to be and the year on year decreases in the most deprived areas during the austerity years have never been reversed.
 
sherlock1969 said:
Perhaps not, but it's nonsense to suggest that removing parking charges would do anything other than drive up footfall.

We pop into town all the time to buy bits and bobs. Would we do so if it meant paying two quid to park every time? Nope.
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There's no parking charges in Billingham yet footfall is low. Thornaby too. Perhaps it's due to the number of town centres and a retail park being in close proximity as well as the economic situation. Morpeth is a long way from the nearest alternative. Similar situation to another fairly well off area, Northallerton, which is always busy but charges for parking.

The car park charge has little if any effect but is a gripe we hear all of the time.
 
It's going to have a noticeable impact.

But town was dying anyway, this is just going to make things worse.

There's only so much space at Morrisons.

It wouldn't be so bad if it was for 2-3 hours, but it's a high cost for a short stay.
 
Scrote said:
I don't understand the question. What is the problem you're wanting solved?

If the high-street is dead and no-one is coming then why is introducing parking charges a problem?

If the high-street is thriving but parking-charges are going to kill it then you need to come up with an answer as to how the council balances it's budget now that promised funding has been withdrawn.

There are limited avenues availble to generate revenue and the withdrawal of funding needs to be solved right away.

Mandatory services have to be provided and the cost of those has already put the finances in the red. National funding for local councils is way below what it needs to be and the year on year decreases in the most deprived areas during the austerity years have never been reversed.
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Am I right in saying you are a counsillor for R&C.?

My point is, the High Street is like a ghost town and the council in its wisdom have decided to take the 1hr free parking away. Businesses are saying it is impacting their footfall by discouraging casual shoppers and visitor numbers are falling due to the impact the parking chargers are having. If this continues we are going to see more empty premises and a greater shortfall for R&C to find. We have just seen a veg shop that's been there since the 60's close because it is only getting a handful of customers each day.

I understand that mandatory services need to be met and the impact this government has had on our regions councils and how they are struggling to make ends meet but is charging for the few hundred parking places along the High Street really going to help.

The council should be looking at ways to get businesses into these empty premises and encourage people back into the town centre. Redcar has got so much potential.
 
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