FSB calls for town centre parking rethink

 April 25 2008

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on local authorities to rethink town centre parking policies ahead of the local elections in England and Wales in May.

The UK’s biggest business organisation said that the practice of local authorities using excessive parking charges to raise revenue is killing town centres. Local authorities made £1.6 billion from parking charges and fines in 2005, up from £628 million in 1997.

The FSB warned that short term revenue-raising by local authorities through draconian town centre parking laws would backfire in the long term as high street shops go out of business and the wealth and employment they create is lost. The FSB’s Small Business Manifesto for the local elections calls for sensible parking policies that encourage shoppers to use small independent shops on the high street. MPs estimate that 2,000 small shops cease trading every year.

Roger Culcheth, FSB Local Government Chairman, said:

“Every town is different and you can’t impose exactly the same parking policies everywhere. But local authorities should come up with a set of criteria for parking policies that encourage shoppers into town centres rather than turning them away.

“Although parking restrictions can raise a lot of cash in the short term, they can be extremely damaging to local economies and ultimately counter-productive, as shops in town centres begin to close.

“Spiralling town centre parking costs and huge fines must be done away with permanently. The local elections in England and Wales are a perfect opportunity for local authorities to show their commitment to the town centres they have so much influence over.”