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Car parking charges raking in £300,000
Pop Shop Kettering, School Lane Pop and Shop car parking spaces now 30p Friday 27th January, 2012
A council made nearly £300,000 profit from its car parks last year, but despite this charges will continue to rise until 2015.
Kettering Council made £286,745 from the six town centre car parks it owns and maintains in 2010-11, higher than the previous two years.
In 2009-10 the council made £260,997 and it had a profit of £268,998 the year before.
The increase in parking charges has fuelled anger among town centre traders, who have presented a petition with 2,000 customer signatures plus more than 100 traders signing up in protest to the price rise.
Cllr Alison Wiley, portfolio holder for finance, said: “Along with council tax, car parking is a major revenue stream for the council.
“We are hugely sympathetic to town centre traders.
“We want to have a thriving town but we are balancing car parking charges with our other objectives, like a zero increase in council tax.
“When we’re dealing with having a £2m reduction from our Government grant, a modest increase in car parking charges comes into perspective.”
Cllr Wiley also said the new prices bring them in line with inflation.
Charges have also increased year-on-year from 2007.
Janet Seaton, 66, of Valley Rise, Desborough, said: “I’m not surprised the council made so much from it because of how high the parking charges are.
“It really puts me off coming into the town, especially with so many boarded-up shops currently in the town centre. I come into Kettering because of necessity. I think other towns are better to shop in and are so much cheaper.”
Benjamin Muddle, 33, of Balfour Street, Kettering, said: “Nearly £300,000 is a big amount. Then they put the charges up for parking while street lights are getting turned off.
“Kettering is getting far too expensive to park in, for people with little money or elderly people, it makes their life a little bit harder.”
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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Comments
There are 8 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
KEEP ME NUT DOWN
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 03:26 PM1 HOUR 30p I have to laugh at people moaning about that. Try £1 for 10 minutes down in LondYon £10 per day congestion charge and if your lucky enough to live in a congestion charge zone you only have to pay 10% or £365 per year and oh yes not forgetting your parking permit for the privelige of parking near your home if you can get a space up to £400 per year and permits for your family and friends so they can park near you when visiting..you people up here enjoy it while you can cos its coming your way one day thats for sure. If I were you I would KEEPMENUTDOWN
robbierunciman
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 12:55 PMcar drivers (of which I am one) should think of this as renting a piece of ground to put their car on. The space occupied by the car park might have another use - so such a charge is justified to offset the loss the council mkes by providing the space. The Council is effectively a quango which is owned by the people of Kettering - the 'profit' therefore is not the Council's but the people of Kettering and possibly helps reinburse those who do not drive for the inconvenience and lost opportunity cost of adapting the town for those who are too fat or lazy to do otherwise.
DMT48
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 07:13 PMSo what about these government guidelines that say that councils should not profit from parking? KBC -you are *not* a proper conservative council at all - you are infected with Blairism.
ktowner
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 01:21 PMhow much of this is due to the fact that a) the machines don't give change, and b) you have to pay for a minimum charge. I regularly have to park in Kettering on a weekday from 5:30pm...I still have to pay for an hours parking, even though parking charges stop at 6pm and to pay £1.10 for 30 minutes parking is crazy. Mind you - not as bad as the hospital - having to pay for 2 hours parking when you're there for 10 minutes for a blood test...now THAT'S daylight robbery....
Mrk
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 11:24 PM200 Years ago these people were know as highway robbers, today we call then council civil servants... I do hope the people of Kettering will not forget the way this council have run the town down into the ground when they come knocking for votes. We voted them in so i suppose we got what we asked for.
BEEFYBOY
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 04:27 PMMOVE TO THE BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON IN LONDON THEN YOU WOULD ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO MOAN ABOUT 24 HOUR A DAY WARDENS ON SCOOTERS EVEN IN THE QUIET BACK STREETS HERE IS A SNIPPET :- 9 MILLION POUNDS WORTH OF PARKING FINES BOOSTED THE COUNCILS COFFERS IN THE YEAR RUNNING UP TO SEPTEMBER 2011.YOU DONT KNOW WHAT A RESULT YOU HAVE HAD UP HERE. MIND YOU IN THE COURSE OF TIME THE GREEDY COUNCILS WILL DO THE SAME UP HERE...THEY LOVE AN EASY TARGET.
richard9876
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 03:40 PMThe higher the parking charges (and even more exorbitant penalty charges when you mis read misunderstand the rules) the fewer shoppers there will be spending money in the town. Then there will be even more shops closing. How much is the council losing due to empty shops? Is it more than the £300,000 it is raking in from car park charges?
kettering7466
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 10:20 PMCllr Alison Wiley the traders dont want your sympathy,they want a council that cares ,you dont and I hope that the next election shows what people really think of you. If you want a thriving town for goodness sake listen to the people who put you were you are because people are sick and tired of your pathetic excuses for increases,try getting some of the people with the top jobs to live on a wage that is more in keeping with the average person and lower your standards. We all have had to cut back,I bet the people in the top jobs in the council dont even shop in Kettering..anyway enough said....
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