Steve Matthews Allerdale council meets today to finalise its budget. It has been forced to look again at plans to hike car parking charges, following massive opposition.

Steve Matthews, owner of Bookcase, Carlisle:  The town or city that is most welcoming to its visitors is the most successful, and parking is a key part of that whole package.

If you suddenly introduce free parking, as they did in Hexham, it draws attention to the town, and if you suddenly put parking charges up it will turn people away.

It’s not just about parking charges, but about the number of car parks, the convenience of them, whether they are ones where you pay at the end of your visit of whether you have to rush back.

In a shop like this, for instance, people come in and browse and time passes. Anything that says they are going to be fined will not make visitors feel welcome.

The availability of public conveniences, good signposting, how clean and attractive the place looks and the parking are all part of the package. We really need to look after people when they come here. It’s about making a visit a pleasant experience, not just about convenient shopping.

Businesses need to work together to see how they can make their town more attractive. You can’t afford to be out of step with other places.


Douglas Baptie Douglas Baptie, Cumbria Cerebral Palsy:  We have shops in Carlisle, Cockermouth, Wigton and Brampton. We live or die by footfall and how busy our high streets are, so anything that discourages people from coming into the towns has an impact.

We are not a “destination store”, and we rely on people coming in and browsing. You come in to have a look around and see if something catches your eye. If you have to be back at a car park by a certain time that doesn’t necessarily happen, bit if it’s a car park where you pay on th way out you are more relaxed about it – you are not clock-watching the same way.

Nobody likes paying out, but doing away with parking charges completely might cause problems. You could have shop staff parking up all day and taking up retail spaces.

And parking isn’t the only issue. There are other factors involved. For instance there’s been a real pull back in council-owned or council-managed public toilets. The temporary toilets in The Lanes in Carlisle don’t have disabled access.

If a town doesn’t have easy access to public toilets that can be a discouragement for anybody, able-bodied or disabled. These are the kinds of issues people think about when they choose a place to go.


David Wilson David Wilson, Ukip councillor for Aspatria on Allerdale council:  I’m totally against the proposals to increase some parking charges in Allerdale.

Rather than putting them up they should be reducing them.

Or in some cases making them free to encourage people to shop in town centres.

Free parking would definitely encourage people to shop in town centres.

Increasing charges is very short-sighted. People are already going to out-of-town shopping centres.

If they have to pay more for parking, that’s just going to accelerate it.

There’s a shortfall in the government grant to councils. Councils are trying to create more money.

Motorists are an easy target. They’re the most put-upon group in the British Isles.

Not only by councillors but by the police. Motorists are seen as a cash cow.

I’ve heard a lot complaints from people about the plan to put up parking charges.

There are two by-elections coming up in Allerdale.

We’ll see what people think of the parking charge proposals then.


Fiona Robson Fiona Robson, Conservative councillor for Stanwix Urban on Carlisle City Council:  Free parking is the way forward. Hospital parking should definitely be free.

And there is an argument for free parking in some places in town centres to encourage people to shop there.

But there would need to be safeguards to stop it being abused.

It should be shoppers using it rather than workers.

Charging for parking and increasing parking charges has always been an easy option to raise funds.

As well as raising money, there are also ways for councils to save money.

There are services which the council provides that are also provided by other agencies.

That kind of duplication could be stopped.

And when parking charges do apply there are ways of doing it better.

I would rather park somewhere like The Lanes, where you pay for how long you’ve parked when you leave, rather than be charged in advance.