Councillors launch petition to ‘save’ free parking in West Oxfordshire

Led by Oxfordshire county councillor Liam Walker and West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) leader Michele Mead, the campaign is calling on the county council not to impose parking charges in the district.

It follows the revelation that the county council is proposing to carry out the parking enforcement which WODC currently does on behalf of the county council.

Under the proposals, WODC would continue to manage and enforce its off-street car parks, while the county council would manage on-street infringements, such as yellow lines and bus lanes.

A county council spokesperson said this means free off-street car parks in West Oxfordshire are not at risk.

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Future parking proposals, such as residential parking permits or pay and display schemes, would need to be consulted upon and determined in their own right.

However, Mr Walker said: “Our free parking policy is a much-needed support for local businesses, not just in Witney, but in our other towns in West Oxfordshire, along with saving residents money, especially in this challenging time.

“What we are seeing at the county council under this new Lib Dem-led administration is our council tax going up five per cent this year, parking charges being tripled in Oxford, and now the risk they will start charging residents to park in West Oxfordshire.

“This is nothing more than a stealth tax to get more money from residents to pay for more of their grand projects in Oxford city. We cannot let them do this.”

Ms Mead added: “I am really concerned about this move from the county council to start exploring options to charge residents for parking in West Oxfordshire.

“After the pandemic, we should be doing all we can to support our local businesses and high streets rather than deterring people from visiting our towns due to these extra unnecessary costs.”

Richard Martin, from Witney Blanket Hall, said free parking was something that enticed visitors to West Oxfordshire.

He said: “There is no doubt that free parking is something visitors are always commenting on as a great advantage to the district.

“Even now, we find visitors coming from near Cirencester to shop in Witney because of the free parking.

“Oxfordshire County Council has already started to encourage the ramping of parking charges elsewhere in the county, so it's therefore very important to nip any idea of stopping free parking very firmly in the bud.”

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A spokesperson for the county council said taking back the management of on-street parking restrictions will ‘benefit residents by providing consistency and a single point of contact across the whole county’.

The spokesperson added: “It will also allow us to make savings through economies of scale.

“Having on-street parking controlled by the county council offers the potential to introduce on-street parking schemes, such as residents’ parking permits, but these measures would only be progressed if local communities wanted them and if they worked for residents, shoppers and commuters.

“West Oxfordshire District Council will continue to own and run all its off-street parking used in the district and its free parking policy will remain totally unaffected.

“West District Council will continue to have complete control of its own parking policy.”

County councillor Dan Levy, who represents the Eynsham division, said: “Woodstock has real problems due to lack of enforcement of on-street car parking, and that’s the same here in Eynsham too.

“Free parking is not under threat – it will remain under the control of the district council.”

The county council’s cabinet is expected to be asked to consider the recommendation to end its existing agreement with on-street parking enforcement and WODC, in March.

If agreed, there is a 12-month notice period for ending the agreement, so new arrangements would come into effect from spring 2023.

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