Firm to enforce on-street parking

This assurance has been given by Cllr Peter Butlin, the Warwickshire County Councillor responsible for policy on transport, after the cash-strapped authority agreed to put this element of parking enforcement out to tender in an attempt to cut costs.

Cllr Butlin (Con, Admirals) said by contracting out the enforcement as opposed to staying with the current method of having both on and off-street parking overseen by district an borough councils on behalf of the authority could achieve savings of up to £600,000 per year and that the service could now be more “reactive” to issues such as unlawful parking.

He said: “People can rest assured that the ethos on the street will remain exaclty the same. The ceonomies we are seeking to make are based on the fact we are bringing together back offices into one place and by doing thatnwe can make the changes without changing the perception of the on-street enforcement. The cotnract will stipulate that the ethos must remain the same.”

Leamington and Warwick’s Chambers of Trade have expressed concerns that the change could lead to over zealous enforcement and that on-street parking charges could be increased if it proves to be unsuccessful.

For more see the letters section on pages 26 and 27.