This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Public “do not need to worry” despite £458,000 car park shortfall
05/10/2022
Council leader seeks to reassure residents in face of lower parking income than expected
by Andy Mitchell, Local Democracy Reporter
The leader of Cherwell District Council insists residents “do not need to worry” about the funding of services despite a sizeable shortfall in revenue from car parks.
The authority this week confirmed it would dip into savings to plug a £458,000 gap between what it budgeted to make from car parking charges and current projections – almost a fifth of what was initially budgeted for.
Its monthly performance, risk and finance report, covering up to the end of August, notes that parking charges were increased by 25 per cent last year but that the increase in income is limited to between 16 and 18 per cent.
“A further 10 per cent rise in car park charges in July 2022 is not anticipated to increase income by a further 10 per cent,” it warned.
The council had budgeted to collect £2.327 million in car park revenue for the financial year up to the end of March 2023 with the projected shortfall cutting that by 19.7 per cent.
Policy contingency is a pot of money set aside to “meet affordable housing, commercial pressures, costs of decoupling from Oxfordshire County Council and inflation”.
The use of £458,000 more than doubles the amount earmarked, a total of £790,000 for the year so far, “to partially mitigate some of the inflationary costs that the council is experiencing and car parking income challenges”.
Councillor Adam Nell (Con, Adderbury, Bloxham and Bodicote), Cherwell’s portfolio holder for finance, said: “The real point is that people aren’t coming to park in our car parks in the way that they used to and our budget thought they would.”
Councillor Barry Wood (Con, Heyford & Fringfords), leader of the council, added: “We are particularly impacted by the fact that not as many people are using car parks as they used to.
“I think there is this tail or lag from Covid where people got used to – and I don’t have an evidence base for this – home delivery, Amazon, and that way of life caught on. Fewer people go to car parks in order to go shopping, basically.
“The important message I would give to residents in our district is that these things are being managed, that is the purpose of these reports, to enable us to manage the finances of this district properly, effectively and efficiently, as we have always done.
“We will continue to do that and you, the users of our services, do not need to worry, we are not going to change the way we look after people and provide the services they expect but we will manage our finances properly and effectively.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
Edward Horton On 05/10/2022 at 2:46 pm
It’s nothing to do with covid or shopping habits. It’s all to do with the cost of parking which is now more than people think is a fair price.
CDC seems to think that car parking is their cash cow and people will pay no matter what.
But it’s past it’s value for money stage and like myself people are finding alternatives. For us it means not shopping in Banbury town centre and I bet there are many more like us. So not only is CDC losing car park fees but town centre shops are losing business.
Ed Horton