Response to Car Park Charging Proposals
(Page Updated October 28th)
No account has been taken of the economic and social consequences of the proposed district car park charges (recommendation 4). This comes at a time when all the district centres affected are struggling, particularly the independent shops, of which Bristolians are so proud. On the other hand the likes of Aldi and Lidl, which have local stores with free parking within a stone’s throw of the Machin Road, Henbury, Callington Road and Chalks Lane car parks, will benefit. Fishponds has free car parking in the huge Morrisons car park and at the Lidl store.
Shoppers in the Westbury village catchment area have a choice of other places to shop with ample free parking - Cribbs Causeway or to the discount Aldi and Lidi stores in Southmead and Henbury. The charges proposed are bound to impact on the large range of independents in Westbury on Trym, who need shoppers from a wider catchment area. They stand to lose as car borne shoppers visit less frequently.
Your planning policies seek to try to retain healthy shopping centres. Charging as proposed will run counter to this. The great attraction in Westbury is that there is a free car park which serves many purposes, social and economic.
Whilst our prime concern is for Westbury, most of the other car parks affected serve district centres which are all suffering internet shopping, low economic growth and smaller shops are still going through the fallout of Covid.
To assess the harm charging will cause in Westbury on Trym, we surveyed the number of vehicles and length of time they park, where they had come from and the reasons why people use the car park.
We found very little abuse of the 3 hour limit, with 92% of users staying for 2 hours or less. One of the key reasons the officer’s report gives for charging is to make the turnover of spaces more efficient. It’s already highly efficient. Allowing stays of 4 hours would be counter productive. It would not deter long term parking and might well do the reverse as the more spaces taken up by long stayers.
We surveyed 342 users and found that the main purpose of using the Westbury Hill car park was to access the medical centre (28.1%), followed by visiting the banks (24.6%) and then shopping (24%). We did not know when the survey was undertaken last summer that two high street banks were soon to close their doors in Westbury. Shopkeepers have reported that trade has reduced noticeably in the mornings since their closure.
We asked what users would do after charges are introduced. 23% said they would try to park on street, 18% said they would go elsewhere for shopping or services and 19% would visit less frequently. This must inevitably lead to more vacancies –12% of units are currently vacant, higher than it has ever been.
The indication that drivers would seek to find free parking on street leads to the conclusion that there will be additional and potentially dangerous traffic movements by those trying to find a free parking space on the street. The other significant response was that they would go elsewhere and there are plenty of competing retail areas with no parking charges.
Westbury Hill car park may serve a prosperous part of Bristol, but our survey showed that only 43% of car park users came from a BS9 postcode. 57% came from other parts of Bristol and beyond. Furthermore, your officer’s report shows that most of the other car district parks are in areas of deprivation.
Medical centre
The report says there are medical centres next to district car parks in Shirehampton and Fishponds, but these do not rely on the council’s car park, they all have free private car parking for users. All patients at Westbury and those going to collect prescriptions from the only pharmacy in Westbury, which is within the health centre, would have to pay for parking. Census figures show that 21% of Westbury’s population is over 70. It was the Westbury medical practice development that paid for the laying out, surfacing and lighting of the car park when it was built in the early 2000s as part of its planning permission.
Community
Aside from the business and health centre issues, the car park provides for the meetings and classes in the Methodist church hall, parish church and Village Hall. The Methodist church has a multitude of daytime classes and community activities, such as the Ukranian hub, the Country Market and the Friendly club for elderly people, run by volunteers. Bus services are very poor on Sundays, so there is even less prospect of modal change. There is absolutely no ‘sustainable transport’ justification for charging for use of the car parks on Sundays. The only shops open in Westbury on Sunday are the Tesco Express and Co-op, which has its own car park, although we are aware that this is under threat of development
On Sunday the only users affected will be those attending the parish church and Methodist church. However, there is no mention of religious groups being adversely affected in the Equality analysis.
Conclusion
The introduction of car park charges in the district car parks is ill considered and although it is argued it will lead promote sustainable travel behaviour, it will not lead to any substantive change in travel mode, but will lead to serious consequences for the shops and communities in those centres affected. We request that before coming to any decision on district car park charges, you look carefully at the circumstances affecting each car park, no ‘one size fits all’ approach and that at the very least in Westbury there should be a free period to allow shopping and medical visits to continue without charge and no Sunday charges. Andrew Renshaw, Chair Westbury on Trym Society.
Shoppers in the Westbury village catchment area have a choice of other places to shop with ample free parking - Cribbs Causeway or to the discount Aldi and Lidi stores in Southmead and Henbury. The charges proposed are bound to impact on the large range of independents in Westbury on Trym, who need shoppers from a wider catchment area. They stand to lose as car borne shoppers visit less frequently.
Your planning policies seek to try to retain healthy shopping centres. Charging as proposed will run counter to this. The great attraction in Westbury is that there is a free car park which serves many purposes, social and economic.
Whilst our prime concern is for Westbury, most of the other car parks affected serve district centres which are all suffering internet shopping, low economic growth and smaller shops are still going through the fallout of Covid.
To assess the harm charging will cause in Westbury on Trym, we surveyed the number of vehicles and length of time they park, where they had come from and the reasons why people use the car park.
We found very little abuse of the 3 hour limit, with 92% of users staying for 2 hours or less. One of the key reasons the officer’s report gives for charging is to make the turnover of spaces more efficient. It’s already highly efficient. Allowing stays of 4 hours would be counter productive. It would not deter long term parking and might well do the reverse as the more spaces taken up by long stayers.
We surveyed 342 users and found that the main purpose of using the Westbury Hill car park was to access the medical centre (28.1%), followed by visiting the banks (24.6%) and then shopping (24%). We did not know when the survey was undertaken last summer that two high street banks were soon to close their doors in Westbury. Shopkeepers have reported that trade has reduced noticeably in the mornings since their closure.
We asked what users would do after charges are introduced. 23% said they would try to park on street, 18% said they would go elsewhere for shopping or services and 19% would visit less frequently. This must inevitably lead to more vacancies –12% of units are currently vacant, higher than it has ever been.
The indication that drivers would seek to find free parking on street leads to the conclusion that there will be additional and potentially dangerous traffic movements by those trying to find a free parking space on the street. The other significant response was that they would go elsewhere and there are plenty of competing retail areas with no parking charges.
Westbury Hill car park may serve a prosperous part of Bristol, but our survey showed that only 43% of car park users came from a BS9 postcode. 57% came from other parts of Bristol and beyond. Furthermore, your officer’s report shows that most of the other car district parks are in areas of deprivation.
Medical centre
The report says there are medical centres next to district car parks in Shirehampton and Fishponds, but these do not rely on the council’s car park, they all have free private car parking for users. All patients at Westbury and those going to collect prescriptions from the only pharmacy in Westbury, which is within the health centre, would have to pay for parking. Census figures show that 21% of Westbury’s population is over 70. It was the Westbury medical practice development that paid for the laying out, surfacing and lighting of the car park when it was built in the early 2000s as part of its planning permission.
Community
Aside from the business and health centre issues, the car park provides for the meetings and classes in the Methodist church hall, parish church and Village Hall. The Methodist church has a multitude of daytime classes and community activities, such as the Ukranian hub, the Country Market and the Friendly club for elderly people, run by volunteers. Bus services are very poor on Sundays, so there is even less prospect of modal change. There is absolutely no ‘sustainable transport’ justification for charging for use of the car parks on Sundays. The only shops open in Westbury on Sunday are the Tesco Express and Co-op, which has its own car park, although we are aware that this is under threat of development
On Sunday the only users affected will be those attending the parish church and Methodist church. However, there is no mention of religious groups being adversely affected in the Equality analysis.
Conclusion
The introduction of car park charges in the district car parks is ill considered and although it is argued it will lead promote sustainable travel behaviour, it will not lead to any substantive change in travel mode, but will lead to serious consequences for the shops and communities in those centres affected. We request that before coming to any decision on district car park charges, you look carefully at the circumstances affecting each car park, no ‘one size fits all’ approach and that at the very least in Westbury there should be a free period to allow shopping and medical visits to continue without charge and no Sunday charges. Andrew Renshaw, Chair Westbury on Trym Society.
