The public 'misunderstands' need for parking charges in Blackpool

Coun Paul Galley told a meeting of Blackpool Council’s tourism, economy and communities scrutiny committee he had seen numerous online comments from people criticising the authority for collecting parking fees.

He said: “There is a general misunderstanding by the public about parking charges in general.

“Residents don’t understand that the money would be going into services they enjoy or need.

“The value of parking isn’t just that you get to park your car in a space, but secondly you benefit because any money raised goes to support services.”

Coun Galley suggested the council considers putting this message out more strongly to residents that parking revenue is key to supporting local services, and said he had seen this done in other areas such as the Lake District.

Coun Maxine Callow agreed many motorists did not like paying for parking and “think they are being ripped off”.

She added: “If you take this idea on board, it might make more people be public spirited and have some civic pride.”

It was agreed to look into the issue to see what action could be taken to demonstrate the link between parking revenue and services.

Money raised is ringfenced and can only be spent on road improvements, road safety and highways structures.

The committee was told this year’s parking revenue had been hit badly by lockdown, with income from car parks beween April and September down by a third to £1.9m, compared to just over £3m for the same period last year.

Income from on-street parking was down by 22 per cent to £414,522 in 2020, from £531,045 in 2019, for the same time.

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