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ONE PAPER ... ALL THE NEWS from Dewsbury, Batley, Ossett, Mirfield, Liversedge, Birstall, Heckmondwike, Cleckheaton & Spen Valley
Delight at new base for project
Friday January 25, 2019
No. 878
Pioneer delayed ‘til 2020
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50p
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VICTORY IN FREE PARKING BATTLE Proposal for charges in North Kirklees towns dropped in the face of 9,000-strong petition...
By Tony Earnshaw Local Democracy Reporter FREE PARKING will continue in North Kirklees towns after councillors backed down on proposals to introduce charges. Ten months after it announced it was considering the controversial policy – which could have pumped £250,000 into coffers – Kirklees Council dropped the idea. In Huddersfield Town Hall last
Wednesday evening council leader Shabir Pandor announced: “Let me assure everybody in the council chamber: we are not going to impose car parking charges in Cleckheaton.” He was swiftly followed by his Cabinet colleague Coun Graham Turner, who added for clarification: “No charges are going to be imposed anywhere.” They were responding to a petition signed by more than 9,000 people objecting to the introduction of
charges on car parks in Cleckheaton. Cleckheaton has nearly 300 spaces available. Batley has 10 car parks offering more than 400 spaces. Heckmondwike, Birstall and Mirfield also have free council-run car parks but in Dewsbury drivers must pay from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Saturday. Cleckheaton’s Liberal Democrat councillors led the fight against the proposals. Coun Andrew Pinnock said the 9,000-strong petition was presented because traders were concerned that parking charges would have a detrimental impact on business. He warned that businesses on the margins of viability could fail if shoppers were deterred by paying to park. He pointed out that whilst some areas were popular with tourists and required a turnover, Cleckheaton’s surplus of town cen-
tre spaces meant it did not fall into the same category. “Is the income from car parking charges more important than the financial viability of a town centre? The two aren’t necessarily compatible,” he said. Conservative group leader Coun David Hall said it was wrong to pit communities against each other via the imposition of parking charges. He called on the council to use its budget to commit to a regeneration strategy that covers the whole of the borough “and not just Dewsbury and Huddersfield”. He added: “It’s not just Cleckheaton. We can look at the other small towns. “Over a period of 10 years we have seen Dewsbury left to rot, Huddersfield left to rot, awful news about Marks & Spencer this week and you just think, where next? We really need some action in these small towns.” Coun David Sheard, deputy
Labour group leader, urged caution around what he called the “mythology” about car parking. “There is no such thing as free parking,” he said. “Shopkeepers pay through their rents for the car parking. To keep towns viable people have got to be able to park. It’s not the charging, it’s availability and ease. “Parking is always up for review but we shouldn’t discount any methods to help towns stay vibrant. “Charges are used in many places to manage parking, otherwise people wouldn’t be able to park. It becomes a problem when people use it to leave their car for a full day and go somewhere else. “The budget decision is right but if we lifted charges in all cases, all the car parks near the town centre which shoppers want to use would Continued on Page 2
... but your council tax is set to rise PAGE 5