Parking Charges Parked

Editors Comment :-Roy Plume informed us of this article in the Winsford and Middlewich Guardian (why was he reading that??)

Cheshire East Council parking charge plan is thrown out

"Plans to introduce parking charges in Middlewich, Alsager, Holmes Chapel, Sandbach and other towns which are currently free in Cheshire East have been scrapped.

Applause and cheers rang out from the public gallery at Macclesfield Town Hall as members of the highways and transport committee voted by eight to five against the proposal to go out to public consultation on the charges.

Speaking after the decision, Middlewich councillor Mike Hunter (Lab), who voted against the new charging proposals, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "It is dead in the water.

"It does present us with problems down the line budget wise – we have got to find £1m – but, at the end of the day, as you can tell from the people that were in this hall and the amount of people that were against these parking charges, it's a victory for residents, not just in Middlewich but in Alsager and Holmes Chapel and other places around Cheshire East, and that's what matters.

"We're here about the residents. It's not party, it's residents. Town before party."

Earlier, during the meeting, Cllr Hunter had pointed out that parents used some of the car parks in Middlewich to pick up their children from school.

He said they would not pay to park for the school run.

Wilmslow councillor Don Stockton (Con) asked why the council had not done the review on a town by town basis instead of proposing a standardised charge across the borough.

"Standardisation is not the way forward in my mind," said Cllr Stockton.

He added: "Parking isn't just about car parking charges, it's about the vitality of the towns, it's about the fact that when people try and avoid car parking charges they'll just go and park on the street outside someone's house and the residents will get upset."

He was applauded by the public when he said he couldn't support what was proposed and that each car park and each town should be considered on its own merit."

For full article please click:-  https://www.winsfordguardian.co.uk/news/19596463.cheshire-east-council-parking-charge-plan-thrown/