Green Party calls on Northumberland County Council to scrap free town centre parking

Speaking at a meeting of the county council’s communities and place overview and scrutiny committee, Coun Nick Morphet said that the policy encouraged car use and was damaging to both the environment and local bus routes.

He felt the money that would be brought in by car parking charges could fund projects to make sustainable forms of transport more accessible.

However, the deputy leader of the Conservative-led council Richard Wearmouth dismissed the idea and vowed that free town centre car parking would be taken away from Northumberland via his “cold, dead hands”. He warned introducing charges would be bad news for town centre businesses.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting, Coun Morphet said: “It’s not so much about whether people would or wouldn’t visit town centres – it is how they visit.

“If you applied a charge, you could re-invest the money to help people travel more sustainably, such as in rural bus services or in walking or cycling infrastructure. It is about nudging people to use sustainable forms of travel.

“You could give someone an equivalent discount on the bus rather than the enticement of using their car and parking for free. There’s no reason why charging for car parking would stop people using the town centres.”

Drivers can park for free in most of the county’s larger towns in council-owned car parks, provided they have a council parking disc. These cost £1 and are available from libraries, tourist information centres and some businesses.

Coun Wearmouth said: “I applaud the Northumberland Green Party leader for having the courage of his convictions, but I cannot see the apparent policy of the Greens to end free parking going down well with voters in places like Morpeth, Alnwick and Hexham where free parking is hugely valued.

“Studies show that charging for parking is a significant deterrent to visiting town centres. We have deliberately kept parking free in our major towns to ensure footfall stays high and to make it easy for the countless residents in our very rural county who rely on their cars to access goods and services.

“That is the way it will remain on our watch.”