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21
Feb
Business group ‘increasingly concerned’ for Harrogate’s future after parking hike
A Harrogate business group has said it is increasingly concerned about the town’s future after increased parking tariffs were announced yesterday (February).
The proposed new fees, which are expected to be introduced on April 1, will see the cost to park increase everywhere and more than double in some Harrogate car parks, such as the Odeon.
The charge for half an hour’s parking at the Odeon will go up from 90p to £2.20.
Reacting to the news, Martin Mann, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, expressed concerns for the future of the town centre.
Mr Mann said:
The Harrogate chamber was very disappointed to hear about these increases as we had understood there would be consultation prior to any increases. Whilst we understand the need for some rises, and of course the whole point of removing the eight different districts was to allow standardisation of parking fees, we have not yet had sight of the fees across the county and wonder if Northallerton will still enjoy free parking on their main retail street. Rebalancing implies that some charges could have gone down, but instead some have simply gone up more than others.
These increases, along with the removal of Harrogate visitors being able to obviously 'pay on exit' from the two multi-storey carparks leaves the town centre growing increasingly concerned about its future.
Ghost buses
Mr Mann also questioned the council’s claim that the parking fee increase “aims to reduce congestion and encourage people to use other forms of transport”.
He said this “implies that public transport is fit for purpose, and it simply is not”.
He added:
“Harrogate suffers from ghost buses that appear on the maps and simply vanish, and another areas of the town are simply not served at all.
"These increases, along with the incessant roadworks and road closures due to the utility companies failure to put the community they serve first, and the impending station gateway development does put Harrogate in a very concerning short term position."
Conservative highways chief, Cllr Malcolm Taylor said:
“The changes to parking charges are part of our vision for a unified system that is consistent for everyone. In many cases, our rates are more affordable than privately managed car parks and are competitive with those set by neighbouring authorities."
The Stray Ferret will publish a full list of the proposed new on-street and off-street parking tariffs tomorrow.
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