CEO of Beales in Poole outraged at rise in parking charges
Tony Brown says his retail staff could lose up to £250 a year just through parking
There are fears an increase to parking charges in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole will ‘kill’ high street retailers.
BCP Council announced it will increase car parking fees by an average of 5% in all council-owned car parks in April to compensate for the challenges they face financially.
The decision to increase the current parking charge from £2.00 to £2.10 is expected to generate an additional £2.5 million of revenue for the council every year.
But the CEO of Beales department store in Poole, Tony Brown, believes there will be a drop off in footfall as a result.
He told us: "It’s going to become more of a considered choice as to whether you go into town or not and anyone just looking to go shopping for an hour will now think twice about it.
"I think what’s annoyed me is the self-congratulatory message they put out because they’re raising an extra 2.5 million…
"How you congratulate yourself by taking money out of the pockets of shoppers, visitors or people who work in the town centres is beyond me and in fact it should be something you’re apologising for."
Mr Brown claims that full time retail staff from across the conurbation are being “penalised to work” and could lose up to £252 a year just through parking.
Mr Brown said: “The council have a huge budget and they should’ve analysed the projects they’re doing for pure vanity and which ones for sanity.
“Carparking is an easy target, whether they blame the cost-of-living crisis or increased electricity charges or whatever, but they should’ve looked at other areas to save money that wouldn’t affect the wider population.”