Parking permits just a con

Published in The Royal Borough Observer On-line on Fri 20th Jun 2008

A LEADING Royal Borough councillor has warned Windsor will 'grind to a halt' unless more action is taken over parking.

Simon Werner, the group leader of the Liberal Democrats, blasted the Tory administration for conning the people, claiming the ongoing parking crisis in the town is a stealth tax for residents.

On Monday at the Windsor Town Forum it was revealed 12,000 parking permits had been issued to residents over the past four months but parking fines continued unabated with more than 80 penalty tickets being issued each day.

Cllr Werner said: "There are not enough spaces for people parking in Windsor. They think they are entitled to a space because they have bought a permit, but really it is just a Conservative con.

"Without providing more parking, Windsor is going to grind to a halt. The number of fines that have been given out show the seriousness of the problem. It is a stealth tax for the residents."

The council took over parking enforcement from Thames Valley Police on January 14 and has been trying to deal with Windsor's shortage of spaces.

The borough's lead member for transport, highways and environment, Cllr Colin Rayner, hit back saying: "This is not a political game to play, it is a concern for everyone.

"We had no choice but to take over parking from the police and since doing so we have freed up many spaces.

"I am extremely disappointed at the Lib Dems, who failed to solve the parking problem during their four years in office. We want residents to help solve the problem rather than say we got it wrong. We spent five hours on Wednesday trying to free up 70 more spaces, which will be presented in the cabinet report."

The 12,000 permits for residents in Windsor were issued between January 14 and May 31, with the first ticket for each house charged at £20.

Head of community services, David Scott, told the forum on Monday the council is currently working on the second phase of a plan to tackle the shortage, which will be launched in two stages in July and September.