Parking Charges — The Killer of the Highstreet.
When it comes to City Centre parking we are normally hit with parking fees, recently Durham County Council decided to expand those fees to its coastal parking areas. I’ve got a real pet peeve for this decision one which I feel will damage our local economy and local businesses even more, a decision which goes to show a lack of ambition and dedication towards our local independents.
Since I first heard about the introduction of parking charges across several coastal car parks by Durham County Council I have been vocal, why? Well for me the charges impact the small businesses and lower income the most. For example, people paying for parking are more likely to spend less locally impacting small businesses on Seaham Front Street or a low-income family who want to go to the seaside for the day are going to be hit for a couple of quid eating into their already tight budget.
The argument I have heard is that it is to “Reduce Congestion”, “create financial revenue for reinvestment” and more absolute crap frankly. For an area that has the tenth highest average council tax bill our council certainly like to line its coffers in any way possible.
Why am I so bitter? Well because we have a council who has let a once thriving city centre become a baron wasteland of empty stores and no hope, quick to blame “changing consumer habits” but not the thriving outer city retail parks like Arnison Centre & Dragonville. This council of ours continues to decimate small business growth, ambition and sustainability and yet lay blame on external factors, this council a council run by the Labour Party for almost a century has ruined a thriving hub. The party of “working people” is destroying small businesses — a party which for me has a limited interest in aspiration and is more interested in charging working people higher taxes and parking fees.
The potential of our City Centre, surrounding town centres and other core high streets is huge, but while our shops lay empty and our city continues to become a Petri dish of abandonment and expense we will continue to see a local economy suffer, ambition of small businesses halted.
Changes can be made, we have a huge university population which is a great asset to our city, employment, and the injection of cash locally both have great benefits but what is there in the City centre to attract local people? Nothing. I’d love to see a major retailer like Primark introduced to the city centre thus acting as a footfall beacon, empty shops converted into smaller retail units for local start-ups and a range of support for these start-ups. Forget fast growth and look at sustainable growth, build a city centre worth visiting, the city is so much more than its historical skyline, it has potential and it can once again thrive with the right council, the right people and a bit of dedication.
