Since the Liberal Democrat administration at Surrey Heath Borough Council raised car parking charges across the Borough, by as much as 75%, local businesses and residents have said they have seen a reduction in footfall.
The decision to raise car parking charges was done on the basis that the additional money raised would be used to invest in public facilities and the Borough's car parks. Currently, Surrey Heath Borough Council (SHBC) own and operate seventeen car parks.
As stated by one Lib Dem Councillor at the time, "the Executive [took] the decision that it is unfair to charge all residents to pay for the car park repairs but to charge those who the car parks."
However, little has been done to re-invest into our town centre and villages. As highlighted recently by one resident on Camberley Chat, public toilets in The Square have been closed and out of order for several weeks.
The question therefore arises if the Lib Dem's had factored a decrease in users of the car parks from having increased parking charges, and if financial projections had taken this into consideration.
Local residents and business have stated that as a result of reducing free parking from 1 hour to only 30 minutes and hiking fees, they have seen a reduction in footfall in the town and villages. One resident stated "we only go to Camberley now if we have to, gone are the days of us just popping in for a look around, simply due to parking charges going up."
Commenting, Ed said:
"Constantly on the doorstep I am told about car parking charges increased to a crippling level by the new local council administration which hurts residents and businesses.
"As your MP, I will stand up for you against these unfair actions which prevent our residents using essential services and stop our businesses from thriving."
