Plenty of U-turns when it comes to parking charges

Do we believe Labour when they say no more parking charge hikes in Southampton? They made a similar promise before the 2012 council election but as soon as they were in power they set about increasing charges and introducing new ones like residents parking first permits and night time city centre charges. They also voted through plans for charges for shoppers in district centres like Shirley and Portswood. If Labour are genuinely having a rethink and accepting that their approach up until now was wrong, they should scrap their first permit charges and night time charges which will hit residents and businesses in the pocket.

Empty Labour promises before an election have been proved worthless. As the council leader himself admitted himself; much of Labour's 2012 election manifesto was simply an election tactic.

Labour's Night Time Parking Charges Need A Rethink

Plans by the Labour council to introduce evening parking charges in Southampton city centre need a serious rethink. Charging to park at night will damage businesses, hit city centre workers and also residents.

It will mean more people parking on the outskirts of the city centre in places like Freemantle and Banister Park, to escape the charges. This will mean residents having to compete for parking spaces here when they return home from work. There is also a safety issue for people walking longer distances to their cars late at night.

I recently had a leaflet through my door advertising the new shopping area at Whiteley. They won't be charging for evening parking. It doesn't take a genius to see that Labour charges will drive business elsewhere to places like Whiteley.
It isn't too late to stop this crazy policy. Labour councillors need to re think this.

Plans to Demolish Southbrook Rise?

Several weeks ago demolition signs went up around Southbrook Rise in Millbrook Road East. The building has been empty since the City Council moved out of the offices. 

I have had lots of questions from local people wondering what will happen with the site. No one at the City Council's planning department seem to know anything about it however planning approval would been needed if the building was pulled down. I am trying to find out what is going on. It would be a shame if the building was pulling as its a reasonably attractive office block. I am hoping its not going to be another big block of flats without proper parking. Parking in the area is already very difficult and with plans for night time parking charges in the city centre the local area will suffer even more from commuter parking. More flats would be the final straw!

UPDATE: 21/04/13: I recently raised concerns about the possibility of Southbrook Rise in Millbrook Road East being demolished as demolition signs had gone up around the site. I have been in discussion with the planning department at the council and they have now informed me that the site won’t be demolished and that a planning application (13/00467/FUL) has been received for a proposed single storey new building (reception) and internal refurbishment of the whole building. I am still unsure as to why there are demolition signs on the fencing to front of building as they are not proposing to demolish.

Update on the Lawsons Application 84-88 Millbrook Road East

I regret to inform you that despite the council rejecting the recent planning application on the former Lawsons site, that it was granted planning permission by the Planning Inspector on appeal. The council rejected the application because of concerns about over development and lack of parking and the design. It is therefore a real blow that it has now been given the go ahead. This means that all we can do is appeal to the good will of the developer to ensure that the development is as in keeping with the area as possible. 

I would also be interested in your views on local parking. With this new development and also council plans to charge in the city centre for evening parking, there will be more pressure on local parking. If you have views on whether the hours of the local residents' parking scheme should extended until later into the evening I would be pleased to hear from you.

Labour Plans To Charge You To Park Outside Your Own Home

Labour have announced plans to introduce new charges for residents who live in permit parking areas in the city. Until now residents with permit parking have not been charged for a permit for their first car. Labour made no mention of their plans for first permit charges in their election manifesto last year and instead they claimed that they would reduce parking charges in the city if elected. Another broken Labour promise!

Parking is a massive problem in Freemantle, made all the worse by all the extra flats that were built without proper parking provision under the last Labour Government. To now charge people who are already struggling to park in their road is outrageous. 

Labour Budget Will Hit Freemantle Ward Hard

As a local councillor representing the Freemantle Ward I was extremely disappointed and angered to read the budget plans of the new Labour Administration. Many of the cuts and hikes in charges will disproportionately hit those that I am elected to represent.

Labour came into office full of promises and as predicted, one by one they are breaking them. They immediately u-turned on their pledge to keep Oaklands Pool open. They promised to invest more in SureStart and they are cutting £1m a year from this service. They promised to spend more on libraries, yet they are slashing opening hours, bringing local libraries to the verge of closure. Shirley Library is having its hours cut by 15 hours a week. Pensioners are having their council tax raised by 12%, despite a last minute pre election promise by Cllr Richard Williams not to do this. Even the weekly bin collection was due to be axed and it was only spared because of a grant from the Government.

A 35% reduction in street cleaning in local roads will mean lots of more litter. Local residents associations are fighting an ongoing battle to keep the area clean, with regular litter picks and this will come as a real slap in the face to many people. I am very worried about the cuts to the upkeep of local parks. We already have problems with drinking in Lake Park and cans and glass left behind as well as the ongoing problem of dog fouling. We have more and more young families in Freemantle and keeping the local parks clean, tidy and safe is essential.

Parking is one of the biggest problems faced by residents in Freemantle Ward. I have fought for a long time to stop new charges coming in for first permits in residents’ parking zones. Labour tried to bring in charges last time they were in power and now they are back they are quick to charge residents to park. Worse still this doesn’t even guarantee residents a space in their road. Residents’ Parking enforcement stops at 6pm so many residents will end up paying for permits and much of the time they will be worthless. Labour plans to introduce on street parking charges in the evenings in the city centre will mean more workers parking their cars in local roads after 6pm, making it even harder for residents to park. Also charging people to park when they are shopping in Shirley will hit local businesses hard, damaging trade and costing jobs, at a time when everyone is struggling.

Labour have not thought through their proposals. They were elected with no plan and no vision for the city and now residents are suffering the consequences.

Parking Requirements for New Developments

On Monday the city council approved revised parking requirements for new developments. In the past, the Labour government planning rules meant new developments were prevented from having proper parking and this led to blocks of flats being built with little or in some cases no parking. This has caused massive problems for local residents. The new government rules now allow councils to set their own local parking standards for developers.

On Monday we brought in changes that will mean at least one space can be provided per one bed flat and more parking for larger flats and houses.
The full details can be found HERE.

Backing Small Businesses

Southampton signs the Federation of Small Business Accord

This afternoon Southampton City Council signed up to the Federation of Small Business Accord, committing to work more closely with local businesses in the city.

As a local councillor I have been driving forward and supporting a range of initiatives to make Southampton a more business friendly city.

- The city council has cut car parking charges in the city centre. New pre payment cards provide a 20% discount and two car parks have had charges cut in half.

- Council procurement processes are being made simpler and easier for small businesses.

- I am ensuring that the city council is as proactive as possible in getting eligible businesses to take up small business rate relief and I am backing the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) campaign for Automatic Payment.

As a candidate at the next General Election I am very supportive of the policies announced by David Cameron that a Conservative Government would implement to help businesses struggling in this recession.

- Establishing a temporary National Loans Guarantee Scheme to get credit flowing again and help protect jobs.

- Allowing struggling firms to defer their VAT bills for up to six months.

- Cutting small firms' payroll taxes.

- Helping companies with the costs of hiring new staff by giving tax breaks for new jobs.

- Cutting the main rate of corporation tax.

- Cancelling Labour's planned increase in the small companies tax rate, and cutting the rate instead.

At October’s Conservative Party Conference, Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne announced plans to abolish national insurance for new companies during the first two years of a Conservative government. Under the scheme, any new business will not pay national insurance on the first ten workers it hires.

Ken Clarke also announced details of a new Green Paper, which sets out Conservative plans to combat excessive regulation and win the battle against red tape which is stifling business.

St Mary's Parking Changes

Changes to residents’ parking arrangements came into effect in St Mary’s at the start of July. The residents parking scheme for the area will now operate Monday – Saturday, 8am – 6pm. Before the hours of operation were 8am – 10pm, seven days a week. Also the time limit for short-stay parking will be relaxed from one hour to two hours for people without permits.

The changes follow a lengthy consultation with local people. Conservative Councillors have been pushing the Council for some time to do more to tackle problems with parking in the area and we are keen to get feedback from residents on the changes.

Parking Restrictions in Darwin Road

The Council has drawn up plans for a Traffic Regulation Order for Darwin Road. This proposes yellow lines around the junctions of Darwin Road and Greville Road and Darwin Road and Thornbury Avenue.

This is to stop cars parking on the corners of the road and blocking visability. There was an accident at the junction with Thornbury Avenue recently and these plans are response to the concerns raised by residents.

Unless there are strong objections to the proposals this will be implemented in the near future.

New College Development Plans

Last night I went to a roadshow organised by Linden Homes about their Plans for developing the former New College Site (La Sainte Union) on the Avenue / corner of Archers Road. Their plans are for large numbers of flats, a few houses, some commercial offices and some sheltered housing.

I met a number of local residents and spoke with Linden Homes and their architects. No formal planning application has been submitted yet and so the plans are still in draft form.

However based on what I have seen so far I have some concerns.

1. Traffic Congestion. Archers Road is terribly congested already. A new development will mean many more vehicles coming and going. Planning permission was recently granted for large numbers of flats the other side of Archers Road on the old nurses / social services site. The proposed new development for New College has 2 points of access on to Archers Road.

2. Parking. If insufficient parking is provided it will mean more cars clogging up the surrounding streets. I was pleased to see that the developer is considering underground parking under the flats and 3 story townhouses with a garage on the bottom level. I would like to see the maximum amount of parking if the development does go ahead.

3. Design. The site is in the Avenue Conservation Area and it borders another conservation area. The developers are looking to protect some of the old buildings however the new buildings that they propose are of a very contemporary design (think Ocean Village). In my mind a development that is in keeping means that the new buildings look similar to existing ones rather than looking completely different.

4. Combined Heat and Power. There is CHP plans in the city centre (the big red building near Toys R US). This is gas turbine power station (previously a geo thermal power station) that heats most of Northern Above Bar. It is considerably more efficient the normal means of providing heat and power and therefore more environmental. A lot of new housing developments in the city centre have linked into the CHP network. Apparently Linden don't intend to use CHP for this development. I have asked why as it seems worthy of proper consideration.

I have mentioned all the above points to Linden Homes and will follow it up with a letter to them.

There is another Roadshow this morning at New College, for those that didn't get a chance to have a look yesterday.