Councillors and businesses have welcomed the announcement that the Council’s planned parking charges hike for 2024 will now not go ahead. On 27th January a senior Council officer took the decision to raise parking and permit charges with delegated authority given by the Council Leader, Cllr Phil Jordan. The decision would have seen increases of between 10-20 per cent from April which prompted a number of cross-party Councillors to try and “call-in” the decision to be challenged at a public meeting of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee. With a lack of clarity in the Council’s constitution about challenging decisions made by officers, the call-in request was rejected leaving Councillors without a say. However, just 24 hours later (Wednesday), the Alliance Group’s draft budget was published under the headline, “Car parking charges frozen” meaning a swift reversal of the decision taken in late January.
Cllr Joe Robertson, Chairman of the Council's Corporate Scrutiny Committee, welcomed the news. “I have been campaigning against parking charges and talking to local businesses over many months. Year after year motorists and shoppers are seen as an easy target for raising money by the Council. High parking charges have a detrimental effect on the vibrancy of our towns, the high street, small businesses, the visitor economy and hard-pressed residents. The Leader should never have delegated the decision to an unelected official in the first place but I am glad good sense prevailed after pressure from our cross-party committee of councillors.”
Neil Gibbs of the Spyglass Inn in Ventnor said, “I was against the increase in parking charges. Decision makers do not seem to understand the damage it does to the local economy including visitor spending. There should be a further freeze next year."
Cllr Ray Redrup, of Grace's Bakery, with a high street shops in Newport, Ryde, Shanklin, Cowes and Yarmouth said, "I am pleased that the price hike will not go ahead. The Island's parking charges are already higher than comparable places on the mainland and they encourage people to shop at the big supermarket chains with free car parks. That doesn't help our town centres and small businesses."
Councillors Peter Spink, Sarah Redrup, Chris Quirk, Warren Drew and Ed Blake also signed the call-in request criticising the original decision to increase charges.
