07 Nov 2024
Council bosses have snubbed the will of the people and ignored overwhelming opposition to plans to charge for on-street parking in Harpenden.
Out of the 1,199 individual responses received during the recent public consultation, 95 per cent were in opposition to SADC’s proposals, with the majority fearing the impact they would have on local businesses.
But a report from council officers refuted this claim: “Whilst we understand residents and businesses will have concerns about increases to car parking charges and whether there will be a potential impact on businesses and the vibrancy of the town centre, there is no evidence to support that there will be a negative impact on the high street.”
In the wake of the report, revised proposals have been proposed by SADC lead for car parking Cllr Helen Campbell and strategic director of community and place delivery Chris Traill, including one 30-minute free parking session a day, charging periods to be made available in blocks of 30 minutes, and five limited waiting bays in Leyton Green to be converted into residential parking bays for the benefit of local households.
The reaction from retailers has been far from positive.
Lara Wares from Threads said: “I’m speechless! Cllr Campbell states businesses have offered no evidence that footfall will be affected. This is not true, we conducted a survey of customers in Threads which demonstrated that footfall could drop from between 36 and 53 per cent. SADC are blatantly refusing to listen to businesses, Harpenden Council and Harpenden residents and are behaving in a completely undemocratic and reckless way. How can they be allowed to go ahead and knowingly destroy our High Street?”
Harpenden town councillor Richard Scott, who has campaigned against the proposals since they were first announced, added: “This week, the worst-kept secret in St Albans, that the district council always intended to impose town centre parking charges on Harpenden, regardless of any objections or concerns raised by its residents or High Street retailers, was confirmed.
“The report published by SADC to justify its charges confirms that fully 95 per cent of the 1,199 consultation responses objected to the introduction of parking charges in and around Harpenden’s High Street.
“The report goes on to dismiss the concerns of Harpenden residents, over-ridden by SADC’s true priorities of raising tax revenues, and imposing ideological changes on how we should go about our day to day business.
“The accompanying press release issued by SADC on November 5 also contained a highly misleading statement about Cllr Campbell meeting with Harpenden Town Council. I am aware of no such meetings taking place between the district or town councils on this matter, despite the town council issuing a public invitation for joint working between the parties.”
The changes would be authorised by a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) and a final decision on whether to issue a TRO will be made by the council’s strategic director of community and place delivery in consultation with Cllr Campbell.
Those wishing to comment on the revised proposals will be given the opportunity to air their views during a 21-day period starting on November 11. The consultation will appear here along with the report on the modified proposals. If the changes go ahead, they are likely to be implemented in early 2025.
