Parking Charge Call

PLANS to charge for parking in Leigh have been mooted by a Southend councillor.

Independent Shoebury councillor Steven Wakefield, formerly responsible for transport and highways, suggested that introducing measures to charge in Leigh’s busiest shopping district could bring in much-needed revenue to the council, and would “generate a turnover of cars and bring in more custom, which prevents people hogging the road all day.”

Coun Wakefield put forward the proposal when councillors were asked to pitch ideas to tackle a £10.7million deficit being faced by the council.

The free two-hour parking on Leigh’s Broadway was recently brought up from the one-hour parking limit: a policy that was not met with support from all Leigh business owners.

One Leigh trader reportedly commented: “There are 50 parking spaces around here and the regulatory period for those come into force between 9 am and 6 pm.

“These are extreme, but if everyone stayed for one hour that’s 350 different people in a day.

“Now that it is two hours, that has cut the number down to 225 people, which will have a significant effect on turnover.”

Conservative Bernard Arscott, chairman of Leigh Town Council, reportedly said: “It’s something that’s been discussed in the past. I know there was a lot of concern when they changed from one hour to two-hour parking.

“There was a survey undertaken of businesses who were really worried it would have an adverse impact on businesses. I would have some concern about charging in the Broadway, but I hope it would be done in a sensible fashion that would be competitive and encourage people to come into the town and not priced in such a way that it would out-price people from coming into the town centre.

“Leigh is a thriving high street and if you charge too much people won’t come and we’ll lose the Broadway. It will end up stagnating”

Green Party councillor for Leigh Ward, Richard Longstaff, reportedly said there would be “pros and cons” to the idea.

He expressed concern about the practicalities of the move, and the expense and clutter of installing parking meters.

He added: “It’s an interesting proposal. In one way it makes sense, but it would be inconvenient for people pulling up to get a loaf of bread. I don’t think it’s practical because it’s designed for short-term parking. It would be interesting to see what revenue that would generate.”

Picture: Coun Wakefield is calling for charges

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