Parking charges will "kill off" small towns, says East Yorkshire businesses

The council have now delayed discussions for a further review

Author: Rebecca QuarmbyPublished 27th Sep 2024
Last updated 27th Sep 2024

An East Yorkshire business owner has warned that parking charges will "kill off" small towns, following the council's decision to defer a report suggesting the introduction of charges.

The report was the first review of car parks in over a decade. However, the council decided to delay any decisions, opting to send the report back to their overview and scrutiny committee.

Angela Hunsley, owner of The Orange Grove in Hessle believes that imposing parking fees would deter visitors, negatively impacting local businesses already struggling to attract footfall. She said:

“It will just finish the small towns off totally i mean we're very lucky we are a busy shop but if we don't have the free parking who's going to bother coming in.”

While no immediate changes are set to occur, the deferral has left some business owners on edge. Zachery Theodore-Roo owns the Village Newsagents in Hessle, he said:

"We as a shop do parcels and just general things like that, but people have to nip in just to drop off a parcel and they've already said they're not paying to do that. So that will lose trade, but also just passing trade as a lot of workers in the morning park here on the way to work so it will affect us quite a lot.”

A spokesperson for East Riding of Yorkshire Council said:

“There are no immediate plans to introduce new charges in any area.

“A comprehensive review of car parking across the East Riding was carried out over a number of months by a cross-party group of councillors - the first for over 10 years - and the report was debated at full council yesterday afternoon.

“In one of its recommendations, the report asked that councillors consider the possibility of introducing charges in some areas that currently offer free parking, provided they meet a range of criteria.

“If any plans to introduce charges was put forward in the future, it would go through a rigorous consultation process and involve town and parish councils and ward councillors.

“However, yesterday the council voted to defer the report back to our overview and scrutiny committee, so no decision about the report’s recommendation was made.”

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