Changes to Neath Port Talbot’s parking policy are being brought in across the county borough.
Councillors, at a meeting today, agreed to a new framework for parking designed to make the cost of parking more equitable across Neath Port Talbot and fair to everyone. Charges in some car parks will increase whilst others will be less.
Over the last few months, officers have carried out a comprehensive review of its parking policy county borough wide.
The review was wide ranging and included on and off street parking, residents parking permits, pay and display, blue badges and the staff and member parking scheme.
Some new parking tariffs had already been agreed by the Council which should have been implemented last January. But the Council decided to hold these back until a complete review could be carried out looking at the whole range of parking issues.
The review highlighted many discrepancies existing between the three town centres of Neath, Port Talbot and Pontardawe.
For example, in Port Talbot, people can park all day for £2.60, in Neath for a £1 and in Pontardawe it is free.
Now, Station Road and Heilbronn Way in Port Talbot, Milland Road in Neath and Pontardawe will have all day car parks at £2 per day.
One of the major changes will be a charge for blue badge holders in the Council’s pay and display car parks from April 2011.
Failure to display a blue badge or a parking ticket will mean paying a fine, there will be no cancellations in future.
A charge will be reintroduced for a residents permit to help pay for the scheme’s administration costs. £20 for the first permit and £30 for the second.
As well as a seasonal parking charge for Ocean Way car park on Aberavon Seafront, the charge will be extended to Bay View Car Park but everywhere else along the seafront is free.
“Proposals put forward to councillors have been designed not to deter residents and visitors from shopping in our town centres,” says Council Leader, Ali Thomas.
“It is well documented that tough decisions have to be made to balance the budget for next year.
“After the expected poor grant settlement announced from the Welsh Assembly Government last week, it is inevitable that there will be some amendments to charges in order to protect frontline services for the most needy.
“While proposing the cost of parking, I asked officers to look at neighbouring councils to ensure shoppers would not be deterred from Neath Port Talbot’s town centres.
“Overall, our charges are much lower than our neighbours and most are the cheapest in the region,” added Councillor Thomas.
“I fully appreciate that people do not like parking charges to increase. We have tried to make them as fair as possible but we must realise that there are running costs like maintenance and rental increases for Milland Road, to cope with.
“The extra revenue raised will be reinvested back into the upkeep of our car parks.”
