Cheshire East Council has confirmed that they are not currently looking to introduce any more free parking in the car parks they run in Alderley Edge.
In recent discussions about how to improve the parking situation in the village, making more free parking available has been suggested by some to encourage more people to spend time in the village centre visiting our shops and restaurants.
Last year the Council introduced free parking after 3pm at South Street car park so I enquired whether they intended to expand their Free After Three scheme to other car parks or extend the free period.
A spokesperson for CEC said "No other car parks are currently consider appropriate: either in the wrong place, or to make them free would greatly reduce available short stay parking for town centre customers as they would be occupied all day."
I also obtained figures via a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) which showed that the three Council run car parks in the village generated a total income through pay and display parking tickets of just under £75,000 in 2013.
The Parade car park generates the most income for the Council, with 44,678 tickets purchased in 2013 at a cost of £28,566, whilst 25,790 tickets were purchased at South Street at a total cost of £37,986 compared with 4,453 tickets at the Festival Hall at a cost of £8,148.
In addition to the income generated from drivers purchasing tickets the Council also receives an income from those who park after the expiry time of their ticket or park in a car park without clearly displaying a valid pay and display ticket.
During 2013 there were 328 such cases in The Parade car park, 148 at South Street, 36 at the Festival Hall and just 1 at West Street - CEC no longer leases this car park and the landlord now lets the spaces to businesses on annual contracts.
Drivers are also able to purchase permits from CEC either on a quarterly or annual basis at South Street car park. Four people have currently purchased quarterly permits at a cost of £155 each and two people have bought annual permits for £570.
I also enquired why there is no charge for the parking at the park car park off Ryleys' Lane. A CEC spokesperson said "This is not an adopted public car park but provided by the Park Service for park users and there is no intention to introduce charges."
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Move the all day car parkers from the park and they will only go somewhere else - like the lakes.
Why would Waitrose contribute to the parking fee ?
What is needed is one hour of free parking on the Waitrose Car Park with charges only coming in for more than one hour.
And what we need is a councillor to make that happen.......
Elections coming soon.................................