WILTSHIRE council has finally announced its car parking proposals for Wiltshire, after the recent consultation.

The proposals came to the council’s environment select committee on February 17.

There were 5,013 replies to their consultation questionnaire. By far the biggest came from Salisbury, with 1,360 replies, which is of no surprise.

The council has suggested making some parking charges 10p cheaper; leaving many others the same; upping the daily charge from £7.40 to £8; scrapping on-street 15 minute parking, making a 30 minute minimum at 50p; and making two very well-underused car parks £1 an hour.

They suggest this will be good for Salisbury and solve the car parking issue.

While I applaud our own council officers looking at car parking charges this time (they paid consultants £50,000 last time), their proposals go no way to solving our car parking problem here.

The two car parks proposed at £1 an hour will be Culver Street, pictured below, and Southampton Rd, opposite the college. The report clearly shows that these car parks are well-underused – they always have been. Culver Street’s average is only 27 per cent full and Southampton Rd a pathetic one per cent.

The council should be looking at the other car parks across the city, not these. I think Culver Street should be razed and council housing reinstated, as it used to be. This is a much bigger need for local people and would be a better use for this site.

Southampton Rd, owned by the city council (but managed by WC) is currently free, because this is cheaper for the city council than paying Wiltshire Council to collect ‘the lack of income’ from the parking meters. In Wiltshire Council’s proposals, just who on earth is going to pay the proposed £8 a day to park here? I think I can safely say no one. I made this case at the environment select committee last week, also stating that many in Salisbury choose to go to either Bournemouth (60p an hour in their Central car park) or West Quay in Southampton, where it’s also cheaper to park. I even quoted the parking charges from the West Quay website at committee. John Thomson, the cabinet member who will make the decision, suggested he had no idea where I was making this up from, but shut up when I said that I was quoting direct from their website on my laptop, which I immediately forwarded onto him. I can only assume that he read it!

Another Tory councillor at the committee suggested Salisbury has nothing to offer, which is why people go elsewhere.

Making these two car parks £1 an hour will not solve the parking issue here and shows just how out of touch and remote Trowbridge is. The defunct Salisbury District Council was the expert on parking charges. The then officer in charge at the time, who was much respected, knew that parking charges were already at their peak then, and could go no more. Pity Wiltshire didn’t listen.

Salisbury is yet again the cash cow for the north. I have had mentioned to me by residents several times this week alone, that we badly need a south Wiltshire council that would actually listen to people. Perhaps a petition to this effect would be a start.

The recommendations may be subject to change at the cabinet meeting in due course.

I hope they may change for the better, but don’t hold your breath!

Cllr Brian Dalton (Lib Dem)

Harnham Ward