By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Parking fees in Gloucester will not go up from April amid fears the city could become a “ghost town” with the advent of the Cotswolds Designer Outlet up the M5 near Tewkesbury.
Gloucester City Council voted down a Liberal Democrat proposal last week to increase parking charges.
Their proposal included increasing the minimum two hour charge for Zone A car parks.
These include Kings Walk, Eastgate, Southgate Moorings, Westgate Street and Ladybellegate and would have meant an increase from £2.50 to £2.70.
The three-hour charge would have risen from £3.80 to £4. While the four-hour charge was due to rise 60p to £5.10 and the all day cost was going to increase by 50p to £8.50.
But all these increases have now been put on ice.
Labour group leader Terry Pullen (Moreland) put forward the proposal to freeze car parking charges for the upcoming financial year.
He said: “Let’s be honest, the city centre is struggling. Traders tell us all the time they are struggling and footfall is low.
“People travel to Cribbs Causeway and the elephant in the room is the new out of town retail unit at Tewkesbury, just up the road.
“So what does the City Council try to do to combat that? Put up car parking charges.
“Come on, that doesn’t make sense. You put up parking charges and it will be another nail in the coffin for traders and businesses in our city.
And we’ve got to support them.”
This was seconded by Councillor Roseanna Marshall (L, Barton and Tredworth) who said the city is at risk of becoming a “ghost town”.
“Pre-Covid you would go down Northgate Street, you’d go into Sainsbury’s, you’d pop into Farmhouse Deli,” she said. “There was so much there, now it’s a ghost town.
“There’s nothing there. It’s just really sad.
“Car parking charges need to be frozen because we are seeing it turn into a ghost town.”
This was supported by the Conservative group and Community Independents.
Conservative group leader Stephanie Chambers (C, Quedgeley Fieldcourt) said they understand car parking charges are a good income for the council.
But she said it was good to incentivise people to visit the city and it would be great to get the message out that Gloucester is freezing car parking charges because “we care about our businesses”.
Cllr Chambers said making the city more attractive to visitors and commuters would boost local trade.
“We know that bringing people in to work in our city is supporting our local businesses and traders.
Community Independents councillor Brendon O’Donnell (Matson, Robinswood and White City) said putting up the car parking charges would “destroy Gloucester”.
“It won’t make any money for Gloucester,” he said.
Resources cabinet member Declan Wilson (LD, Hucclecote) said he had sympathy for what the opposition were saying.
But he said the city’s car parks are “in a mess and have not been looked after for years”.
He said they are relying on income from the car parks to refurbish them.
When visitors go to Gloucester they will remember more the “grubby” car parks falling apart more than the fact they had to pay an extra 20p to park for two hours, Cllr Wilson said.
“We’ve had to spend around £500,000 for surveying and maintenance on those car parks,” he said.
“You can’t on the one hand complaing about the state of our car parks and on the other vote to reduce the money we have to fix them.
He said the council needed the £85,000 it would cost not to raise car parking charges for the upkeep of their sites.
Cllr Wilson also said car parking in Cheltenham costs a lot more than in Gloucester.
“Gloucester is very competitive compared to other towns and cities in this neighbourhood,” he said.
However, despite calls from the Lib Dems to reject the freezing of car parking charges the Labour amendment was successful.
It was approved with support from the Conservatives and Community Independents.
The Liberal Democrats all voted against apart from Cllr Rebecca Trimnell (Westgate) who abstained.
Cotswolds Designer Outlet have previously said they anticipate they will draw in visitors from Gloucestershire and from further afield.
“The outlet model’s discount to full price retail is a key point of differentiation from town centre shopping, and this attracts a far-reaching regional customer base,” they said.
“We anticipate Cotswolds Designer Outlet will draw visitors from across the region as well as tourists, and become part of the well-rounded offer in the Cotswolds. ”