'WE'VE BEEN SOLD A PARKING PUP'

Herald Express
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11:00 - 18 August 2006

Torbay Mayor Nick Bye today gave his verdict on the financial contract with National Car Parks: "It seems to me that we've been sold a pup."
The council is now studying the NCP contract for the running of decriminalised parking in the resort.
Mr Bye said he is "angry" about the amount of money the council has been haemorrhaging since it signed up with NCP in April 2005.
Only recently the council has to raid its reserves of £346,000 to keep parking services running.
Mr Bye said the revenue the council is receiving from parking fines is not anywhere close to the amount it is costing to run the scheme.
He felt the only way that the council could hope to break even on its parking contract, which has another four years to run, would be to charge people for parking on Torbay's roads and side streets - which he believes could be a kiss of death for town centres.
Mr Bye, who was not elected as mayor when the parking contract was agreed, added: "It's madness to be paying out all this money. It seems to me that we've been sold a pup.
"It seems we entered into this contract under the impression that we'd have Controlled Parking Zones and on-street parking, but that's not something I want to do.
"We'd be losing money doing something that would upset a lot of people. If we had paid-for parking in our towns, people would go to the Willows and other out-of-town places to do their shopping.
"Excuse the pun, but that is a road I don't want to go down. It is worse than pouring money down the drain.
"We're certainly looking at the contract to see what, if anything, can be done, but I don't see how we'll get out of it.
"I think the people responsible for signing up for this contract, those who are now pretending to be the motorists' friend, need to be asked some serious questions.
"In the council's Business Plan it assumes that there would be Controlled Parking Zones, but if we had that and on-street parking it would be 'goodnight Vienna'.
"I do not want that. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. The money we're taking from our reserves for this could be spent on other things.
"I would have thought that eventually the penny would drop and people in the future wouldn't park illegally because they'd know they would get a ticket. Therefore the revenue from parking won't go up. It'll be the opposite. As far as I see it, you're never going to have enough parking to keep everyone happy."
James Pritchard, communications manager for NCP, said the company believed it was offering value for money.
He added: "Mr Bye clearly feels on-street enforcement is needed in the Bay, while having doubts about whether he wishes to see charging introduced for on-street parking in the town centres. Decisions of that nature are rightly made at a local level.
"Of course, democratically elected politicians are spending public money, and when they do so they have to demonstrate the appropriate care and attention.
"NCP understands this and we believe we offer a professional service at a reasonable cost. If Mr Bye wishes to discuss any element of this with us we would be more than happy to do so.
"His comments about the contract also eloquently illustrate the point that NCP and Torbay Council have made on frequent occasions that enforcement is not a money-making exercise but is an investment in the management of towns and communities.
"It is the means by which councils and the communities they serve choose to control and regulate the use of motor vehicles, and it is the best solution to deal with the kinds of problems posed by the ever-increasing numbers of vehicles on the roads."
Ruth Pentney, Lib Dem council group chairman, disagreed with Mr Bye's view that Controlled Parking Zones would be harmful for Torbay
She added: "I think there's an overwhelming demand for residents' parking. It's not the answer to everything, but it's a way forward.
"On-street parking wouldn't drive people away from the town's It doesn't work like that. People who live near the town centres can't park outside their home because their road's jammed with people parking there for the town.
"The first priority should be the people who live in Torbay, but they often have to park streets away from their home."