Parking charge freeze to help Blackpool businesses

It means the cost of using an on-street parking meter in the town centre will remain at 60p for up to 20 minutes and £2.50 for up to 90 minutes.

Charges for using the main town centre car parks including Central, Talbot Road and West Street will continue to start at £3 for up to two hours, while parking on the Promenade will start at £1 for an hour.

The decision to freeze charges has been made despite the council’s revenue from parking falling by a third between April and September last year as the pandemic drastically reduced the number of visitors to Blackpool.

But council chiefs feared any increase could have deterred visitors and been damaging to shops and attractions.

A report says: “Car parking is very price sensitive and any increase in tariffs can be quickly outweighed by a fall in patronage, or by people choosing to stay for shorter periods, which has an associate impact on the viability of the town centre and especially visitor attractions.”

Michael Williams, chairman of the Blackpool Business Improvement District (BID), welcomed the agreement to freeze charges.

He said: “Without doubt it will be a challenging year ahead post Covid as we all look to attract visitors to Blackpool and in particular the Town Centre.

“Blackpool BID continue to work closely with the council to represent our members with the overall target of ensuring there is every opportunity to drive increased footfall.”

Between April and September last year, revenue from car parks fell by around £1.1m to £1.9m, compared to just over £3m for the same period in 2019.

Income from on-street parking over the same time was down by 22 per cent to £414,522.

However the council applied to be reimbursed for some of its lost parking revenue through the Government’s Compensation Scheme for Sales, Fees and Charges.

The scheme means local authorities must absorb losses up to five per cent of their planned 2020/21 income, with government compensating them for 75p in every pound of relevant loss thereafter.

Blackpool Council operates more than 5,000 parking spaces in the town including 900 on-street bays and 24 car parks.

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