Charges: 'a parking ticket too far'
This is Wiltshire
By Jill Harding
18th June 06
SUNDAY parking charges will be introduced on July 2 after councillors decided to press ahead with the money spinning scheme despite objections from churchgoers and city centre businesses.
Although the proposal to charge a flat rate of £1 to use council car parks between 10am and 4pm on Sundays was agreed in principal earlier this year in a bid to boost council coffers by £70,000, residents were invited to have their say before the fees were introduced.
Scores of letters from concerned members of city centre congregations were sent in arguing that it was inappropriate to charge people who attend church services.
Others wrote that Sunday should be kept free of commercialism and that elderly and less well off people could be discouraged from worshipping in the city centre.
A scheme to give churchgoers free Sunday parking was suggested but the council's portfolio holder for environment and transport Cllr Dennis Brown said this would be "impracticable and inequitable."
"It has to be acknowledged that Salisbury is a multi-cultural and multi-faith society," he said.
"Discriminating in favour of believers of Christianity would be unacceptable and inevitably invite well founded challenges."
Shops and businesses have also expressed fears about the impact of the charges and questioned whether the revenue it raises will cover the cost of parking ambassadors' salaries.
In a letter to the council, city centre manager Lindsey Brown wrote: "Sunday is extremely quiet in the city" and members felt that the loss of stress free parking will "drive our few patrons away."
Speaking at last Wednesday's cabinet meeting, Cllr Margaret Peach agreed that Sunday charging would be a "parking ticket too far."
She said starting charging at 12 noon after most church services finish would only lose the council £5000 a year.
"I am told that places like Southampton and Portsmouth charge for parking on a Sunday but we are different, Salisbury is very special," she said. "Salisbury needs to be kept as a thriving centre."
But supporters of the scheme said that shoppers were unlikely to be deterred by the "modest" charge and that travelling further afield would be more expensive.
Cllr Brown added that as more people visit Salisbury on a Sunday, the cost of street cleaning was increasing and action was needed to stop "haphazard and potentially unsafe use of car parks and on street parking places".
In a vote councillors agreed to introduce the charges, which will come into effect on Sunday, July 2.
8:54am Sunday 18th June 2006
By Jill Harding
18th June 06
SUNDAY parking charges will be introduced on July 2 after councillors decided to press ahead with the money spinning scheme despite objections from churchgoers and city centre businesses.
Although the proposal to charge a flat rate of £1 to use council car parks between 10am and 4pm on Sundays was agreed in principal earlier this year in a bid to boost council coffers by £70,000, residents were invited to have their say before the fees were introduced.
Scores of letters from concerned members of city centre congregations were sent in arguing that it was inappropriate to charge people who attend church services.
Others wrote that Sunday should be kept free of commercialism and that elderly and less well off people could be discouraged from worshipping in the city centre.
A scheme to give churchgoers free Sunday parking was suggested but the council's portfolio holder for environment and transport Cllr Dennis Brown said this would be "impracticable and inequitable."
"It has to be acknowledged that Salisbury is a multi-cultural and multi-faith society," he said.
"Discriminating in favour of believers of Christianity would be unacceptable and inevitably invite well founded challenges."
Shops and businesses have also expressed fears about the impact of the charges and questioned whether the revenue it raises will cover the cost of parking ambassadors' salaries.
In a letter to the council, city centre manager Lindsey Brown wrote: "Sunday is extremely quiet in the city" and members felt that the loss of stress free parking will "drive our few patrons away."
Speaking at last Wednesday's cabinet meeting, Cllr Margaret Peach agreed that Sunday charging would be a "parking ticket too far."
She said starting charging at 12 noon after most church services finish would only lose the council £5000 a year.
"I am told that places like Southampton and Portsmouth charge for parking on a Sunday but we are different, Salisbury is very special," she said. "Salisbury needs to be kept as a thriving centre."
But supporters of the scheme said that shoppers were unlikely to be deterred by the "modest" charge and that travelling further afield would be more expensive.
Cllr Brown added that as more people visit Salisbury on a Sunday, the cost of street cleaning was increasing and action was needed to stop "haphazard and potentially unsafe use of car parks and on street parking places".
In a vote councillors agreed to introduce the charges, which will come into effect on Sunday, July 2.
8:54am Sunday 18th June 2006
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