23 Jan 2026
Three times SADC Liberal Democrats have denied the impact of Harpenden’s on-street parking charges. Three times they have insisted that residents and retailers alike are happy with the changes. Now they have been proved irrevocably wrong.
This week saw the publication of the long-awaited independent survey commissioned by Harpenden Town Council into the controversial fees first introduced by SADC last February.
HTC commissioned independent public sector research organisation Public Perspectives to gather the opinions of residents and businesses on accessing and visiting the town centre, including the consequences of changes to the limited waiting parking bays.
In total, 3,724 residents responded to the survey from 3,495 households – representing 27 per cent of all households in the parish (and approximately 20 per cent of adult residents). Additionally, 177 businesses participated out of a potential 242 – a healthy 73 per cent response rate.
The research revealed there are fewer visits to the town centre and less time and money spent compared to a year ago, with parking charges the most commonly cited reasons for changes in use or experience of the town centre.
The findings recorded a decline of approximately 2,000 less visits a week to the town centre – with 12,500 visits each week compared with 14,500 a year ago – which if the survey is representative of all adults in the parish would equate to approximately 10,000 less visits per week by all residents.
Additionally, respondents spend less time visiting the town centre, 39 per cent spend one to two hours on a typical visit compared with 45 per cent a year ago, and nine per cent spend two to three hours compared to 21 per cent a year ago. The decrease in time visiting the town centre has also been accompanied by a drop in the amount of money spent.
Changes to parking costs (cited by 56 per cent of respondents) is the most mentioned reason for changes to the way respondents visit the town centre compared to around a year ago. This is followed by changes to parking convenience (44 per cent), complex parking ticket/payment system (37 per cent) and changes to parking availability (33 per cent). In total, 70 per cent of respondents cited at least one parking associated reason for changes in their use or experience of the town centre.
More than two-thirds of respondents disagreed with the parking charges, and 53 per cent requested changes to restore one hour’s free parking.
For businesses, the survey revealed the parking charges have led to lower turnover and footfall, with declined business performance.
Almost half of respondents said their turnover was lower than a year ago, and 35 per cent said their overall business performance had declined compared to a year ago.
Around half of businesses cite parking as the reason for changes in their performance, especially businesses that have struggled over the last year, and 70 per cent disagreed with them.
But just as recently as last week, SADC leader Cllr Paul de Kort was continuing to insist that the charges had been welcomed, repeating previous comments made by himself and parking lead Cllr Helen Campbell.
He told the St Albans Times: “Be reassured that I very much stand by my statement that I, and my fellow district councillors, have engaged with a wide range of High Street outlet operators who have spoken of benefits to footfall following the introduction on-street parking…
“And also, be assured that I have been very alive to the anecdotal reaction to the changes in on-street parking and have taken the opportunity, since the introduction, to make frequent informal visits to observe the ‘health’ of the High Street, and on each it has appeared to have been thriving.”
HTC has said the research is expected to have cost them in the region of £30,000 – £10K for the business element and £20K for residents – although the final figure will depend on the number of hard copy surveys requested.
Meanwhile, reactions to the report have been coming in thick and fast from local retailers, politicians and community leaders alike.
Harpenden town councillor Richard Scott, chair of HTC’s corporate policy and finance committee, whose remit includes the High Street, said: “This is arguably the largest public survey ever conducted of Harpenden residents and businesses. Sadly, the survey provides clear evidence of the widely-predicted negative impact of the St Albans parking charges.
“Harpenden residents are making 10,000 fewer visits a week to our High Street, a shocking 15 per cent decline. Residents are also spending less time and less money during each visit.
“Harpenden businesses were already coping with increased costs and taxes.
“The St Albans parking charges have made a challenging situation even worse.
“I am pleased to see widespread support across Harpenden for the town council’s policy of an initial one hour free period.
The door remains open for St Albans district council to engage as a partner with Harpenden Town Council, to make the urgent changes necessary to support Harpenden’s High Street and rebuild local trust in the Liberal Democrats ahead of the May district council elections.”
Former Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Harpenden, Nigel Gardner, said: “This goes beyond party politics. It is about saving our wonderful local high street before it is too late.
“I applaud the courageous members of the town council – even though many of them are political opponents – for getting this research commissioned. They have put Harpenden before party, and we owe them huge gratitude.
“That is not true of our district council leader, Paul De Kort, for whom these charges are a personal political crusade. It is time he stops playing politics with Harpenden’s hard-pressed high street businesses.
“I implore him to listen to what people are saying, follow his town council colleagues, and scrap these ideologically-driven charges before even more damage is done.”
Harpenden councillor Matt Cowley, leader of SADC’s Conservative group, said: “The results are clear – and they reflect what Harpenden residents have told me: the parking charges are damaging our High Street and Harpenden residents want free parking back.
“Our Conservative team has always supported keeping Harpenden’s High Street parking free. We’ll continue to work hard to deliver a real alternative vision for our town: free parking with people enjoying time on our High Street, not a High Street tax that only serves to bail out the Lib Dems’ financial mismanagement.”
Harpenden MP Victoria Collins, also a Liberal Democrat, said: “I’m grateful to Harpenden Town Council for the work they’ve done for our town centre. We must do all we can to support our high street and local businesses.
“The volume of responses cannot be ignored, so I encourage them to share their findings with the district council without delay. I have already written to both councils about the matter.
“It’s right that the parking charging system works as well as it can for all residents and businesses which is why I wrote to St Albans district council last autumn and asked them to confirm to me, in writing, that they would be reviewing the system in 2026 – which they confirmed they would.
“I know that the official review is due to begin soon and I will be seeking reassurances that residents views will be at the heart of this.
“I hope to receive an update on the timeline and process for the review, as just one of the important issues affecting my constituents which I’ll be discussing with the council leader this Friday.”
“Years of funding cuts from Conservative and now Labour governments have left our council in an impossible situation, with parking charges one of the only ways in which it is legally allowed to plug the gap and raise the funds to look after our roads and car parks. Something I have raised in Parliament.
“Frustratingly, the Labour Government’s so-called Fairer Funding Review won’t provide any relief – in fact it will make the council’s funding situation even worse – a point I’ve made to ministers in various debates and through correspondence.
“Notwithstanding these tough parameters, the council must do whatever it can to make the parking system work as well as it can and I urge the district council to engage fully with residents.”
Jeff Phillips, chairman of the Harpenden Society, said he was not surprised by the outcome of the survey.
He noted that there was a strong response from both retailers and residents, and that the findings closely mirrored the society’s own survey results, as well as extensive anecdotal evidence. Together, these clearly indicate that parking charges have had a damaging impact on trade for many High Street businesses.
He added that the cost of the survey came as a surprise and said it was disappointing that Harpenden Town Council felt it necessary to fund such a survey.
“The survey provides clear evidence that the current parking charge arrangements need to be reviewed,” he said.
“In particular, a longer free parking period is required to support shoppers who are visiting for more than just groceries and need sufficient time to browse and complete purchases.”
Local business owner Elaine Bradford, who has led a retailer-driven campaign against the parking fees, said: “I welcome the independent report into Harpenden’s on street parking charges. It just confirms what we have been saying since the inception of the parking changes nearly a year ago.
“I conducted two surveys last year, via Facebook with over 800 responses in March 2025 and some 600 responses in June 2025 and both pointed to the trend that the independent report has shown.
“My question would be why has the council leader continued to spread his propaganda that it is working well, without backing up his claims? He is unable to cite one local business that he has spoken to in Harpenden on the official St Albans council website, providing no solid evidence of his claims.
“At the same time he is saying he will make no changes unless he has solid evidence to the contrary. I cannot understand why he is unwilling to provide solid evidence and when we do, he dismisses it as hearsay.
“Taking time to talk to people who are directly affected by decision you make is the wise thing to do, that way you can make good decision for the electorate you are there to represent.
“It is clear to me that SADC continues to see Harpenden as an ATM, filling the coffers of SADC with more than £1,000 per day as the parking charges continue, why would he be keen to change that?
“We as Harpenden residents and businesses are paying for what can only be described as fiscal irresponsibility of the district council. Paul de Kort here is your solid evidence that you requested, changes are clearly needed – let’s talk.”
Lara Wares, owner of Threads gift shop, said: “I really hope that this survey will persuade St Albans council to review the parking scheme and see where it needs to be tweaked.
“I often hear of people giving up and not parking because they don’t have phone reception. Even simple measures like signs saying where the pay points are would help.
“Retailers have asked time and time again for Paul de Kort to meet with us to discuss the issues but he point blank refuses, which is absolutely incomprehensible to me.”
Cllr Helen Campbell, chair of SADC’s public realm committee and lead on parking, responded to the survey from the district council’s perspective.
“Resident engagement is critical to all we do, including on parking charges. Just last year, in response to resident feedback, the district council made important changes, namely providing the first 30 minutes of parking for free, and replacing two parking codes with one to eliminate a frustrating situation for motorists.
“As per previous official statements, the district council will conduct a review of parking arrangements in Harpenden.
“Reviews do not commence until at least 12 months have passed since a scheme’s implementation, and the internal work to do this will consider a whole host of factors, notably how the scheme has performed against its stated objectives.
“I have asked officers to review the survey methodology and findings of the exercise conducted by Harpenden Town Council to see whether or not it can be formally considered.
“While financial circumstances demand that the scheme can’t be removed, we will absolutely continue to listen to concerns and are already looking, internally and with an open mind, at any appropriate adjustments.”
“No one wants to pay for parking, we understand that. But as community leaders with multiple considerations to take into account, we need to act with fairness and for the benefit of all residents across the whole district and, crucially, within the financial constraints we face.
“The budgetary challenges for all local authorities were stark when the Conservatives were in Government, and those challenges have not eased at all under Labour .
“With local government reorganisation foisted upon us by Labour, this district council now needs to shell out a million pounds on the transition to unitary. That’s a million pounds we could be spending on more social homes or on continuing to improve services and facilities for all.
“Whilst we grapple with a growing homelessness crisis, progress our vitally important Local Plan so that developers are less able to overwhelm our community with speculative applications, and seek to balance the district council’s budget – a legal requirement – the council absolutely continues to listen to community concerns and act to make adjustments where appropriate.”
