Fishponds car parks to bring in charges

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Plans to introduce a charge of £1 an hour at the currenty free Beechwood Road and Stoke View Road car parks were announced by the city council's cabinet in January, ahead of a meeting where budget proposals were due to be finalised.

Beechwood Road, with 96 spaces, is close to the busiest part of Fishponds Road and in walking distance of dozens of shops, cafes, pubs and other businesses, as well as Fishponds Park. It currently has a three-hour time limit between 8am and 6pm.

It is next to the Fishponds Health Centre, which is home to two GP practices.

The biggest car parks nearby are run by supermarkets and other private businesses, with restrictions on use by non-customers and shorter time limits.

The Stoke View Road car park, behind Fishponds Road near the McDonald's drive-thru, has 40 spaces and the same time restrictions as Beechwood Road.

Blue badge holders will be exempt from paying.

The cost of installing pay and display machines in ten car parks is estimated to be £80,000 and, if signed off, the changes would come into effect in the autumn.

The council is planning to sell four car parks, in Avonmouth, Stockwood, Withywood, and Lawrence Weston, which have "low occupancy" and antisocial behaviour problems.

A cabinet report said: "The occupancy levels at 10 of the other free district car parks are relatively high, so there is a reasonable degree of confidence that the introduction of pay and display in these will enable improved management, by making enforcement more efficient, discouraging all-day parking, maximising the use of space, and ensuring effective turnover of spaces.”

The Beechwood road car park is in the council's Frome Vale ward, while Stoke View Road is in the Eastville ward.

Labour ward councillors Marley Bennett and Amal Ali said money raised by the fees "will be directly reinvested into local transport infrastructure, giving the council more funding for repairing potholes and building active travel infrastructure".

They said: "Charging fees also mean these car parks are regularly monitored, helping to deter antisocial behaviour and fly-tipping.

"We appreciate there will be mixed views on these charges and would encourage local residents to contact us to make their views known."

Eastville ward Green councillor Lorraine Francis said she had not been told of the plans before they appeared in cabinet papers, which gave her no chance to "assess the viability" of the car park.

Tax and rents to rise

COUNCIL tax will rise by five per cent and council tenant rents by seven per cent under new budget plans by Bristol City Council.

The council tax hike, comprising the maximum allowed 2.99 per cent for general services and two per cent for adult social care, means a £94.87 increase for band D properties - before the charges levied by the police and fire authorities are added to the final bill.

Council tax is also set to double on second homes and houses left empty for one year, if the proposals get the go-ahead at full council in February.

The council wants to take advantage of powers in the Government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to add premiums of up to 100% on second homes, which would raise an estimated £3 million per year.

Mayor Marvin Rees said every penny of the 7% rise in council rents, to £90.76 a week, would be spent on repairs and improvements to tenants’ homes.

He said: “This includes our sprinkler installation scheme, communal fire alarms and the ‘waking watch’ for homes with Expanded Polystyrene cladding."

Mr Rees said the rent increase would be absorbed for around two-thirds of tenants by the local housing allowance, while others should see the rise offset through the council tax reduction scheme.

Residents face a price hike of more than 50% for garden waste collections, from £32 to £50 a year, with a £3 discount for direct debit payments and £24 charge for people on benefits, to raise an extra £144,000 a year.

The council also plans to introduce a collection charge of up to £5 for Christmas trees for residents not signed up to garden waste collections, and charges for replacement black bin and garden waste bins, recycling containers.

A hike in fees and charges for using Bristol’s harbour will hit ferries and boat dwellers from April, with several charges doubling.

She said that, on visiting the Stoke View Road site, she spoke to a user "who suggested any charges could stop people using the space altogether".

Cllr Francis said: "However, ‘free’ parking on tarmac does cost the council money in terms of lighting and cleaning, and it encourages car use, so this type of decision does have to be made.

"Active travel, safe paths, cycle stands and having access to buses should be our priorities."

Cllr Francis said that while the council was under pressure to save money, projects like the Bristol Beacon refurbishment seemed to be "exempt".

Frome Vale ward Conservative councillor Lesley Alexander said she was "horrified" that charges were being proposed for Beechwood Road.

She said: "It is well used by patients for the doctors' surgery and for volunteers for charities using the Beechwood Club, which will put some of those at risk as volunteers are not paid and a charge would be unacceptable and unaffordable for many.

"It is also well-used by people shopping in Fishponds and probably would affect viability if people decide to go elsewhere.

"There has not been any consultation with councillors or the public."