Cheshire East Conservatives do U-Turn on Festive parking

At today’s meeting of Cheshire East Council there was a notice of motion from the Conservative leadership calling for free parking over the Christmas and New Year period on council park parks.

A motion had been submitted without any attempt to consult or liaise with other groups on the council or with officers.

However, it was withdrawn at the very last minute, despite appearing on the meeting’s agenda paper and councillors having prepared to debate the motion.

So, was the proposal never any more than a crude attempt at playing politics, and the Conservatives never really intended to push the issue to a vote? The fact is that it is something they never did while they were in power and it is far too late to implement such a scheme in time for Christmas suggests it was.

Indeed, at a time when the local COVID-19 infection levels are still a cause for concern and public health advice is to avoid all but essential journeys, should the council really be encouraging increased travel into town centres?

Also, as the Government has been reluctant to offer long-term financial support and reassurance to back-up its promises to support local councils struggling to maintain key public services during the pandemic, should Cheshire East be using scarce resources on such exercises?

Indeed, even if agreed, the fact is that it was too late to implement their scheme in time for Christmas.

The current evidence on town centre footfall strongly suggests that car parking charges have NOT been a major factor in attracting people back into towns. Indeed, our local towns are each allocated 4 free days a year – they should use these days for targeted promotions and events.

Brian Puddicombe, Labour Councillor for Macclesfield South, said “This is simply irresponsible political posturing by the Conservatives – The Eat Out to Help Out scheme spent £522M and is now widely seen as having contributed to the second wave and the need for a second lockdown.”

Ashley Farrall, Labour Councillor for Macclesfield Central said, “This was simply the Cheshire East Conservatives playing populism politics with people's lives, in an attempt to score cheap points. A rushed scheme that could put people's health at risk is not the way forward, and I'm glad they saw sense in the end. To support local businesses properly we need a proper Government-funded plan that doesn't risk our health, such as business rates relief."