“Record numbers” of residents are protesting council plans to scrap free parking

North Somerset Council has insisted that no decision has yet been made on removing free parking in Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead – despite councilors fearing it is a “foregone conclusion”.

The three towns currently have a number of free car parks, but North Somerset Council is considering introducing parking charges for these and some on-street locations. A six-week consultation with members of the public ran until 7 May.

But at a full meeting of North Somerset Council on May 16, Oliver Ellis (Nailsea West End, Conservative) warned the council’s executive: “Confidence in this council is almost non-existent and I’ve been sent back this parking survey only add. at this.”

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He asked Hannah Young (Clevedon South, Labour), the executive member for highways and transport: “What can the executive member say to the many people who think this consultation is not fair, its leadership, it is a foregone conclusion and that it is not it is enough. have seats been given for people to attend one-on-one sessions, limiting transparency?”

Dr Young said: “The consultation was designed to help us find out how people felt about certain aspects of the parking management strategy. (…) If we simply had a petition to say ‘yes or no, do you want us to have parking charges?’ that they wouldn’t want to pay for it.”

She added that she had also heard concerns about the consultation and that the council would learn from it. She said the board had done “a lot” to make in-person sessions available, with some being busy and others less frequent.

Dr Young said: “I also like the idea of ​​trust in the board. I think we try really hard to be open and consultative and at an early stage with people when considering proposals to build trust that we listen to them. and that we take that feedback into account in the next stage of the process – and the proof will be in the pudding in what we do next with the feedback we receive.”

She insisted that no decision had yet been made on the introduction of parking charges. Ash Cartman (Long Ashton, Lib Dem) said: “So there is a scenario where the public don’t want it, the backbench advisers and the scrutiny don’t want it, but the executive goes ahead?”

Dr. Young said to Mr. Cartman: “I’m sure it would be a very good title, as previous council meetings have shown from some of your contributions, but it’s not something I’m prepared to pre-judge in this stage”.

He was handed two petitions from councilors representing Portishead and Clevedon against the introduction of charges in each of their towns.

Presenting a petition of “a record 4,599 residents, businesses and voluntary organisations” against the plans for Portishead, Timothy Snaden (Portishead North, Portishead Independent) warned: “People who work in the high street see the charges as a tax. at work they will struggle to pay their fares as there is no real alternative to public transport or they will have to find free parking on already congested surrounding roads”.

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He added: “People just won’t shop here if it’s not convenient to park. We’ve all done it, we end up going to Cribbs Causeway or somewhere else. (…) This reduces store revenue, causing a drop in footfall for stores that are already struggling.”

Mr Snaden said the Portishead Lake Grounds, where charges are also proposed, is surrounded by steep hills and not served by public transport, and charges could discourage people from going there for exercise.

Presenting a petition with 2,474 signatures against the proposed parking charges in Clevedon, Michael Pryke (Clevedon Walton, Conservative) warned: “The introduction of parking charges will drive customers away from Clevedon town center to the out-of-town shopping centers – as it already has mentioned by the previous speaker – where parking is free.

“According to data from the British Retail Consortium, footfall could drop by up to 14% following the introduction of parking charges. Besides, it’s not just about the economy. It’s about keeping what makes Clevedon unique. It’s a vibrant, bright, independent retail sector. which adds so much value and charge to our community.”

Addressing Dr Young and council leader Mike Bell (Weston-super-Mare Central, Liberal Democrat), Mr Pryke said: “You have spent so much time and effort trying to rebuild trust in Clevedon council. It has not gone unnoticed and you are doing a very good job.

“I really hope you don’t destroy what you’ve started by introducing these parking charges.”