Parking war is brewing

A TUG-OF-WAR is brewing between the borough and district councils over on-street parking.

Warwickshire County Council wants to hand control to private companies in a drive to save £300,000 a year.

But Rugby Borough Council believes the county-wide cost to district and borough councils as a result would increase by the same amount, meaning no overall benefit to taxpayers.

Furthermore, the three district and borough councils that enforce the parking meters on the county council’s behalf believe they could make overall savings of £320,000 a year at no extra cost to the taxpayer.

But the county council still wants to tender the services from the private sector.

On-street parking overseen by the borough council over the last year has resulted in a net loss of over £57,000, the second year in a row that expenditure has outstripped income.

A county council spokesperson said: “The needs for an efficient Civil Parking Enforcement service are many. In addition to improvements in traffic flow, road safety, and accessibility for emergency services and emergency vehicles, better enforcement leads to a better turnover of on-street spaces.”

But a borough council report states the county council has rejected requests to discuss the matter because it may harm their chances of securing a private company to run the service.

The report adds: “It is hoped the experience and expertise gained by those delivering these services can be used to develop and improve the services that are provided.”

A borough council cabinet meeting will discuss the report on Monday.

The district’s and boroughs proposal to retain the services will be presented to the county council at a meeting on September 4.

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