Woking’s Conservative administration stepped up its support for the Woking Town Centre economy at last week’s meeting of the Council’s Executive with confirmation that it would not be foisting an increase in car parking charges on shoppers during the run-up to Christmas.

 

Proposals had been put forward that would have meant the half-hourly increments currently used for charging in the main town centre car parks would have been removed. Currently people shopping for an hour and twenty minutes only pay the hour and thirty minutes increment – removing this would have left them paying for two hours.

 

In rejecting the idea of increasing car park charges for a second time this year, leader of the executive Cllr John Kingsbury said that he was mindful of the recession and the effect that this was having on people’s pockets. The Conservatives have introduced a discount scheme in the car parks that allows people to park all day for £8 and up to six hours for £5.

 

“We are not going to make the same mistake that the Liberal Democrats made in 2006/7,” said Cllr Kingsbury. “The Lib Dem executive budgeted for increased charges in April and then again in August, which was totally wrong.

 

“The Conservatives Executive has agreed to invest money in the Peacocks Shopping Centre, to allow Next to move into a much larger site and we will hopefully see further enhancements soon.

 

“This was not the right time to think about removing the half-hour increment, which would have had the effect of significantly increasing the cost of parking to residents. We want people to be able to support our businesses in Woking during the autumn and in the run-up to Christmas.

 

“Operating our car parks is not about raising revenue – it is about creating a balance between covering the costs of the service for the taxpayer, supporting businesses and providing an excellent service to visitors to the town in their cars.”