Battle lines drawn again over Craven parking fees (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Battle lines drawn again over Craven parking fees

11:30am Friday 11th March 2011 in High and Low Bentham news

PROTEST: Councillor Graham Beck speaks out against car parking charges in Cross Hills

A fresh attempt to introduce charges at free car parks is being made by Craven District Council.

In October last year, proposals to start charging at car parks in Cross Hills, Gargrave, Bentham and Embsay were thrown out after widespread public objections.

But just more than a year later, the council is again considering bringing in charges.

Currently facing a £1 million drop in government funding for the coming year, the council estimates charging will generate an additional £40,000.

In Cross Hills, residents, the parish council and businesses fought the proposals to start charging at Milligan’s Field and Hall Street.

Now, Glusburn councillor Graham Beck is urging people to make their feelings known again.

“Shops are struggling as it is and this would affect businesses even more,” he said.

“This is pure income generation to generate cash for other areas.”

Coun Philip Barrett added: “In these tough economic times, the leadership at Craven District Council should be looking at ways of supporting local shops and businesses in centres such as Cross Hills rather than taking this approach.”

The last proposals also brought strong protests from Embsay and Gargrave.

A council spokesman confirmed that the council was considering charging at its currently free car parks.

He said: “The council is facing a £1million drop in government funding this year – that’s a 15.2 per cent funding cut from the council’s revenue budget.

“Prudent financial management dictates that the authority needs to explore all options to save money and generate income to ensure that it delivers a balanced budget of £6.8million.”