First win in campaign against parking charges

Epsom & Ewell Conservatives have secured an important concession in the County’s consultation on parking charges in the Borough.

We lobbied the leader of the council behind the scenes in frank exchanges. The result has been the announcement that the county’s default position for villages and small shopping parades will be a half hour period of free parking.

The consultation hasn’t even started, but we’ve already secured an important win for our Borough. We still oppose these charges in principle as they are impractical here, would damage small businesses and not generate any additional income. We will use the consultation when it begins in the Autumn to see off these proposals completely.”

It’s true to say these charges are wanted in some parts of the County, particularly in big town centres and around Gatwick airport, but they are not wanted here. By lobbying behind the scenes rather than engaging in political posturing we’ve created a safety net for our Borough with the free half hour and have a great starting point for opposing these proposals in full. We have secured a commitment from the leader of the county council that nothing will be done to damage small businesses.

Any revenue raised from parking charges can only be spent on road improvements such as repairing pot holes. However in last week’s budget the Chancellor gave £4 million to the county council for Surrey’s highways. This means less will now have to be raised through parking charges.