Brighton and Hove council rules out future parking price increase (From The Argus)

Brighton and Hove council rules out future parking price increase

4:00pm Thursday 19th April 2012 in park the charges

Council chiefs have ruled out increasing parking prices in the centre of Brighton and Hove for the “foreseeable future”.

As it looks to balance the books in the face of Government cuts, Brighton and Hove City Council introduced a raft of changes to parking tariffs on April 1.

The local authority claims it simplifies the system while pushing people towards using more sustainable means of transport and reducing congestion.

But dozens of people have written to The Argus claiming it is damaging business and the city’s reputation as a tourist destination.

Tara Parker, who owns a business in Seven Dials, Brighton, said: “What idiot at the council thought this was a good idea and that it would bring more money into the council’s coffers?

“With all the increases in park- ing charges Brighton will become a ghost town.

“Will the last person to leave please turn the lights off.”

Ian Davey, the local authority’s transport cabinet member, said: “There are currently too many cars in traffic jams or driving around looking for spaces.

“Nobody benefits from the con- gestion or pollution – it’s bad for visitors and bad for business.

“Where there were a myriad of tariffs that have evolved over many years, on-street parking prices have now been simplified into a high tariff zone in central areas and a low tariff zone in outer areas.

“We are reviewing how this works, and may make some adjust- ments to the scheme. It is not our intention to increase prices in the high tariff zone in the foreseeable future.”

The local authority said while it’s more expensive to park on the seafront, prices have been frozen or kept low at the edge of the city centre and the western and eastern ends of the seafront.

It added some car parks, including Black Rock, Regency, London Road, Trafalgar Street and Norton Road, are also cheaper for some tariffs to encourage more people to use them.

Any income to the council from parking is ring-fenced to improve transport in the city, such as funding concessionary bus fares for older people, building cycle lanes or developing 20mph zones.