Tuesday 13 December 2011

Bradford Council's lunatic justification for killing town centres...

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On a day when town centres will be in the news, Bradford Council announces its latest wheeze to promote town centre success. On-street car parking charges. Yes folks, the Labour Party in Bradford - wedded as they are to utter lunacy and supported by anti-car, anti-business, anti-sanity Green Party councillors - tell us that these car parking charges will:

...improve access to town centres and stimulate trade by creating a higher turnover of customers.

The current arrangements - for example on North Parade in the City Centre or on Bingley Main Street - are for short stay free parking. Now we'll have short stay with charges. How exactly will that promote a higher turnover of customers?

Let me predict what will happen. Fewer people will go to town centres to shop, choosing instead to to to places where they don't have to pay to park.

In the middle of a massive retail downturn, this perhaps takes the prize for the stupidest of stupid proposals. And it's just about raising cash anyway.

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2 comments:

Curmudgeon said...

In every single article you read about the decline of High Streets, the comments are full of complaints about the extortionate cost of parking driving shoppers away. But do these loons ever listen?

George Speller said...

Meanwhile Camewroid is consulting Mary Portas (!) on high street regeneration? You couldn't make it up.