CAR PARKING charges across the borough are to be shaken up next month, with the axing of evening and Sunday fees, but an increase in daytime rates.
At a meeting of last month’s Wokingham Borough Council’s Executive committee – its ruling body – it was accepted that a year-long trial that saw Woodley car parks increase their fees by 10p an hour during the day but have free parking after 6pm and on Sundays and bank holidays was better for the borough than the introduction of a £1 overnight charge and all day on Sundays and bank holidays in the rest of the borough.
Now, the council has announced plans to implement the Woodley scheme across all the borough-owned car parks that currently charge.
The majority of car parks will, from March 2, charge 80p per hour, £1.20 for two hours and £2 for four hours. There will be variations, for example, the Carnival multi-storey car park will charge £3.50 for up to 10 hours, while the Paddocks and Easthampstead Road car parks will charge £4 for the same hours.
In Twyford, Polehampton Close (West) will charge 50p per hour, but remain at 60p for two hours, £1.50 for four hours and £4 for up to 10 hours.
Season ticket prices remain unchanged.
At the January Executive meeting – at which The Wokingham Paper was the only media present – Cllr Keith Baker, the executive member for highways and also leader of Woodley Town Council, said that the income recorded by Woodley car parks during the trial met the financial requirements that the council had been seeking to find when it established the Evening and Sunday Charges regime operating across the rest of the borough.
When the original plan to charge for overnight car parking was announced, The Wokingham Paper campaigned against it, warning it would make the borough less attractive for people to use at evenings and weekends – and that it would also force people to pay to attend church services, even on Christmas Day.
March’s changes will help Wokingham town centre’s night time economy, which has suffered as a result of the regeneration works. However, the independent retailers are struggling and last September The Wokingham Paper launched its successful Make It Free To P campaign, which saw the borough council implement a Free After Three initiative in the run-up to Christmas.
The scheme was extended and it is proposed to continue it throughout March. It is not yet known if there are any further extensions or changes to the scheme planned.
Cllr Keith Baker, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at Wokingham Borough Council, said that while the increase in charges didn’t affect Woodley car parking, every area was different.
“The decision to implement the trial will be considered by the Executive later this month [Thursday, February 22] and could still be subject to call in by the opposition.
“We don’t think the proposal will put people off visiting the town centre, there was no evidence of this during the Woodley trial. The impact of daytime changes is expected to be limited.
“We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming months and where necessary take appropriate actions.”
Cllr Lindsay Ferris, leader of Wokingham’s Liberal Democrats, broadly welcomed the plans.
He said: “I didn’t know this was formally being planned. When we called in the original charging decision, we had a real concern with the proposals, especially over charging in the evening.
“They’ve tweaked it as a result of the pressures we put on them last year. I didn’t think charging in the evening was enforceable, so this is a bit of common sense: businesses need help in the evenings.”
However, he wanted the council to do more to help Wokingham town centre businesses during the regeneration works.
“While the work is carrying on, the car parks in the centre of Wokingham, closest to the works, need to remain free,” he said.
