Plans to charge blue badge holders are scrapped

Officials last week announced Warwick District Council had abandoned plans to introduce the fees after considering them among proposals to raise £48,000 more from its car parks from April next year.

The rise was called for as part of a host of measures to avoid a rise in council tax, including 24-hour parking charges in Leamington and wider ‘parent and child’ spaces in some car parks.

In a statement this week, Cllr Dave Shilton, who is responsible for parking policy, said he had taken into account comments from disability groups.

Cllr Shilton (Con, Park Hill) said: “This decision is based on assessing all the information that has been presented to me on this issue. This includes consultation with town councils and the town centre partnership in Leamington, Kenilworth and Warwick on a number of proposals aimed at increasing the income generated from off-street car parks.

“As a result of this year’s consultation meetings we now have a number of proposals which have their support and will therefore be included in the annual fees and charges report to be considered firstly by the executive and then the council later in the year.”

The u-turn has left officials needing to raise £43,000 - still more than the estimated income from charging blue badge holders across the district. Neighbourhood services manager Ian Coker said officers were examining other options, but declined to comment on what they might be.

He explained the decision was based on consultation, the short term costs of making ticket machines accessible to wheelchair users and concerns that there would be a concentration of disabled drivers in some car parks.

But he added that work from now on would mean that charges for blue badge holders could be introduced in future.

Other new charges will be considered as the district council, which runs most off-street car parks in Leamington, Warwick and Kenilworth, faces a £205,000 shortfall in revenue.

Officials have ruled out increasing charges in Leamington next year citing evidence that increases of up to 30 per cent over four years had yielded only three per cent rise more income.

But parking charges may rise by 10p for stays of 30 minutes to two hours in Kenilworth car parks, where use has increased after years of roadworks and disruption. Town councillors last week proposed a £1 charge for one hour but to increase two-hour fee to £1.70.

There are also proposals to resurface Abbey Fields car park and introduce charges for stays of more than two hours, with a six-hour limit to deter commuters.