Permit Parking – Kirklees to propose £30 charge

Kirklees Councils proposal to charge households £30 for their parking permits is likely to adversely affect households in the Springwood, Highfields, Aspley  and parts of Primrose Hill. Previously households got their parking permits for free.  Over 8000 homes are expected to be asked to pay and it seems that smaller and lower income households could feel the impact.

£30 is not a lot of money for some people but if you are a pensioner on a fixed income or receive income support then it is effectively another tax on you at a time of rising food and fuel prices. For many people a parking permit is not even a guarantee that you can park on your own street as particularly in the Springwood area contractors and people working on behalf of Kirklees often take up these spaces. Though many low income and pensioner households may not have a car they value the permits to use for family and friends who come to visit them.

If Kirklees were to make concessions to low income households, as we would want them to do, this would reduce the amount of revenue the scheme would generate thereby making charging as a policy less viable. For that reason we want Kirklees to scrap the idea of introducing a charge for parking permits for all households.

Before any proposed charge is introduced all 8000 permit parking holders will have to be consulted by letter and allowed 21 days to respond. These responses will then have to be considered by Kirklees Cabinet.

The Liberal Democrats are also opposing permit parking charges currently in the Lindley area but were in favour of them during the budget process which set the wheels in motion on this proposal.