End of the road for opposition to Newbury's on-street parking charges

The final decision to approve plans was made by the district council's overview and scrutiny committee last week and will see charges for on-street parking introduced after the issue was called in for another round of scrutiny by the Liberal Democrats on West Berkshire Council.
In December, West Berkshire Council’s member for highways and transport, Pamela Bale, (Con, Pangbourne) approved plans to introduce parking bays on roads including Bartholomew Street (outside of the Pedestrian Zone), Broadway, Catherine Road, Cheap Street, Faraday Road industrial area (including Ampere Road, Fleming Road, Kelvin Road and Marconi Road), Kings Road West, Link Road, Newtown Road, Northbrook Street (outside of the Pedestrian Zone), Old Bath Road, Pelican Lane and West Mills.
But the scheme was called in partly because of the number of people who objected to the idea - the informal consultation prompted 171 responses, including three separate petitions, one of which contained 1,719 signatures objecting to the proposal - and partly to undertake a legal review.
Defending Mrs Bale's original decision, traffic services manager at West Berkshire Council, Mark Cole, said that although the scheme had prompted a lot of public response to the first consultation, there had been nowhere near as many for the second consultation.
And on the legal review, prompted by a similar scheme in Barnet, north London, which resulted in a High Court defeat after it was ruled that Barnet council breached laws by increasing the cost of controlled parking zone permits in order to raise revenue, Mr Cole confirmed that the Newbury scheme would completely comply with regulations and that money raised from the scheme would be spent on traffic and highway schemes.
He said: "I'm confident we will get £25,000 to £30,000 a year and I think, going forward, it's likely to increase.
"We won't know until we have had our first year of operation but we can say with a lot of confidence that we would be extremely surprised if we did not hit our target."
The Conservative-ruled council approved the introduction of the centre of town parking meters and to phase the implementation of the outer town meters to allow for further monitoring purposes.
Cheap Street's Empire Cafe owner, Wendy Berkeley, said after the meeting that she believed that that was now the "final nail in the coffin" for some local businesses as they would loose the passing trade which came with the free parking.
Following the meeting, shadow member for highways and transport, councillor Keith Woodhams (Lib Dem, Thatcham West), said: "We remain appalled that the Conservative administration has ignored the views of 1,719 local residents, shoppers and traders who signed a petition against the scheme.
"We will monitor very closely where the money raised will be spent to ensure that promised traffic management and road safety benefits will be carried out."
Councillor, Roger Hunneman (Lib Dem, Victoria), added: "The introduction of charging for on-street parking in Newbury contradicts the council’s own strategy as it will not assist with "promoting and acting in the interests of the communities, people and businesses of the district" which is one of the core purposes of the council."