I would urge all local residents and businesses to take this final opportunity to share their views on changes affecting car parks across Oadby & Wigston Borough Council. As part of the statutory consultation, the Council must seek views ahead of introducing changes. Further details can be found by clicking here.
The deadline here is the 24th October, so please send your representations to: [email protected] before then.
I know there are strong views on this, reflected in my own recent survey:
- Number of responses received = 1015
- Number in support of the proposals = 22 (2%)
- Number against the proposals = 993 (98%)
- Number who felt the Councillors should have a final vote on charges = 799 (79%)
- Number who were unsure about whether Councillors should have a final vote = 83 (8%)
- Number who felt the Councillors shouldn’t have a final vote on charges = 133 (13%)
- Interestingly, a large number of those who voted ‘no’ to Councillors having a vote put comments about having lost faith in the Council's process, or feeling a vote should not be held, because the notion of parking charges should not even be considered
I’m grateful to all who took the time to complete my survey, which received over 1000 responses within a couple of weeks. This is in contrast to the Council’s own limited engagement on this, which received fewer than 400 responses in a much longer time period.
I have yet to receive a response from the Council confirming how many of these responses were supportive of a permit scheme, as they claim to have made changes on the back of the comments received as part of their consultation. This is something I will continue to pursue.
I know many residents and businesses feel let down and ignored by the Council over this decision and the way in which this process has been conducted. Indeed, these frustrations are shared by many of the Lib Dem Councillors as we saw from their own recent leaflet. They agree the scheme is poorly designed, poorly timed and is ultimately a decision being taken behind closed doors.
I want to assure you all I will continue to challenge the Council on this. Even if charges are introduced, I will continue to robustly represent views of the local residents and businesses that the Council is elected to serve and represent.
