Paying for parking

Ian Paul Editor, Politics Show South

Cancer charities say that it is unfair that people needing long-term outpatient care do not receive free hospital parking.

Car parking charges have long been seen as a nice little earner for local councils, with many using higher charges to help deliver lower council tax.

Now though, several councils are thinking of putting them down or ditching them altogether for certain periods to boost town centre trade.

Last week Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced plans to abolish hospital parking charges for in-patients.

So are we seeing the end of paid-for parking?

Revenue stream

Well, probably not. No one would be so generous as to give up such an attractive revenue stream forever.

But what we might be seeing is the manipulation of parking fees to provide economic stimulus.

In Guildford, it costs just £1 per visit on a Sunday and the council has run four free parking days this year to help pass VAT on parking charges back to the public.

In nearby Woking, though, more than 3,000 people have signed a petition calling for charges at town centre car parks to be reduced at weekends, especially on Sundays when businesses say they are struggling to pull in trade.

The council says it has seen a 25% fall in the number of people using its car parks, but is looking at measures to bring people back into the town.

Parking shortfall

However much the users might think car parking charges are a bit steep, councils all over the south are seeing their revenue diminish.

Wiltshire is looking at a shortfall of £350,000 next year, which it blames on the economic climate.

Southampton, which is planning to cut charges in two of its under-used car parks, is expecting its revenue to drop by £850,000 in 2009/10.

Portsmouth is reportedly thinking of raising charges to deal with its more than £300,000 black hole.

Hospital parking

And then there are hospital car parks. At least you can choose not to go shopping - choosing not to go for regular, long-term treatments is rather less of an option.

Alan Buxton: Paying to stay alive

Alan Buxton is a 65-year-old retired brewery worker. For 45 years he says he never had a day off work through illness.

Four months ago he found out he had bladder cancer. He is about to start an intensive course of radiotherapy. Twelve weeks of six-days-a-week care, for which he has to pay £1 a day in parking.

"A pound a day doesn't sound like much to some but to me a pound a day is an awful lot of money - it will be £72 pounds in total.

What do you do? Pay to park your car and stay alive, or starve?"

According to a recent report by Macmillan Cancer Support, over half (59%) of the cancer patients they surveyed did not receive discounted, or free, parking at their local hospital.

A third said they had to make other savings in order to pay for their parking.

Green travel

And then there is the environmental angle. Should we be raising parking charges to discourage people from driving in to town centres in the first place?

A tangled skein to which there may be no simple solution.

But plenty of meaty debate. Why not send us an email with your thoughts, and join in?