'Frustrated and disappointed': Town centre business group calls for rethink on Northampton car parking charges

In a strongly worded statement released to the Chronicle & Echo, operations manager for the Business Improvement District Mark Mullen has vowed to continue fighting on traders’ behalf against proposals which he says will have a detrimental impact.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) u-turned on plans to introduce car parking charges in Brackley, Towcester and Daventry – to the delight of campaigners in those towns. The council said the decision was made after listening to feedback from residents in a “record” public consultation response.

But WNC has kept in plans to increase charges in Northampton, remove two hours of free parking on weekends and Blue Badge holders will no longer be exempt. The council says the situation in Northampton is different as the town already has parking charges in place and is “being treated as such accordingly”.

The news was met with frustration by Northampton Town Centre BID, which says it had been in constant dialogue with WNC throughout the consultation period.

Mr Mullen said: “Given the strength of public feeling over the proposed increase in parking charges, it’s frustrating and disappointing that the long-standing concerns of business owners in Northampton appear to have been ignored.

"Representing the interests of more than 600 businesses, the BID stressed the detrimental impact previous parking charge rises have historically had on our town centre and voiced concerns over the suggested removal of the current two-hour free weekend parking, while acknowledging the complexities of the current financial climate and the costs required to maintain the upkeep of our car parks.

"The BID also recommended that WNC gives serious consideration to a parking strategy that supports employers and their staff - allowing them to attract good quality employees and keeping skills in Northampton,” Mr Mullen said.

"We fully understand the difficulties legacy manifesto commitments had created around town centre parking challenges but had hoped a new leadership would have resolved this and come up with a suitable level playing field for all town centres in our county.

"The discussions between ourselves and WNC have been professional and constructive throughout and, in the interests of working together for the good of the town, we have tried to come up with solutions that work for all parties,” Mr Mullen added.

"Unfortunately, despite the views being expressed directly to both senior political members and senior officers of the council by BID Directors and commercial managers of businesses who know Northampton well, it is clear that they have not been listened to or acted upon. We believe that this move will be detrimental to the economic health of businesses and the town centre in general.

"To discover that proposed price increases elsewhere have been reversed due to the ‘volume of noise’ created by other towns in the area compounds our disappointment and shows that WNC does not value the views of the businesses in our town centre, who are the core of our local economy.

"We will continue to be the voice of our town centre business community and ensure their concerns are heard at the highest level,” Mr Mullen added.

In a statement issued yesterday regarding the Northampton changes, a spokesperson for WNC said: “Unlike the three market towns where parking is free, Northampton has established paid parking infrastructure where charges already exist. This is a different situation and is being treated as such accordingly within the draft budget proposals. Councillors will have the opportunity to consider and discuss the draft proposals at their budget-setting meeting next week.”

Previously, when commenting about the change to the proposals in Brackley, Towcester and Daventry, the leader of the council, Councillor Mark Arnull, said: “Listening to our residents is a top priority for our administration and it was important we reflected on the initial feedback we received.

“Having now considered a record 3,000 responses, the strength of feeling around introducing parking charges in Daventry, Brackley and Towcester was very clear so we have listened to our residents on this important issue.”