Costs of £50,000 a year for the scheme are now considered unaffordable
Plans to introduce free parking in a town centre multi-storey to help boost Saturday high street trade have been dropped due to “significant” costs.
A proposal was put forward for Ramsgate Town Council to subsidise the move, with Thanet District Council (TDC) which would have lost out on income from fees.
But the town council said the £50,000 it would have cost to lay on the incentive at the Royal Harbour car park in Leopold Street for a year was not affordable.
Cash-strapped TDC, which, like other district-level authorities, is responsible for most off-street parking, said it would need the payment due to a large proportion of its annual income coming from parking charges.
A statement from the town council explained: “The cost of providing free parking for a year (just Saturdays) is estimated at around £50,000 – the amount TDC would lose in income.
“This is a significant sum for the town council to pay for 52 Saturdays, and Thanet District Council cannot absorb this loss without compensation.
“The aim was to support local businesses and encourage more people to visit the town centre.
“Traders have shared positive feedback, saying that free parking in the past made a real difference to their business. Many reported higher footfall and better trading on Saturdays when free parking was available.”
Cllr Kristian Bright (Lab), cabinet member for parking at TDC, said officers had been looking into the matter. He added: “It’s disappointing we haven’t been able to find a workable solution.
“Whilst this is probably a disappointment to Ramsgate residents, the aim of the council is very much to encourage footfall on our high streets.
“I genuinely want to find a way to make it convenient, easy and affordable for people to shop in Ramsgate. We want to be collaborative with other councils and look after them but obviously we do have a duty to the Thanet taxpayer.”
The authority has been undertaking a complete review of its parking policy, and a report on potential changes is expected to come back in the new year.
Cllr Bright said proposals for a residents’ parking scheme are likely to come before TDC’s cabinet by the end of January, and possible pricing changes could be heard in February or March.
There is already free parking every Saturday in another Ramsgate car park in Cannon Road.
Cllr Steve Albon (Lab), chairman of Ramsgate Town Council, who is also in TDC’s cabinet, explained the suggestion for introducing free parking in the multi-storey came up as a possibility during discussions surrounding the use of Pride in Place funding.
This is a £20 million allocation from the government earmarked to be given to Ramsgate over the course of 10 years to help regeneration schemes and the town’s economy. However, there was no suggestion that this funding itself would be used to fund the free parking.
Cllr Albon said: “The town clerk contacted TDC to see how much it would cost for us [Ramsgate Town Council] to take the parking charges over so it would be free for residents and visitors on a Saturday.
“That was a hell of a lot of money, we couldn’t afford it. Then we looked if we could do it for the Christmas period, but it was like £3,000 a day.
“Of course, TDC, like all other councils, is cash-strapped and we’ve got to comply with the budgets, and it’s a stringent one coming up for next year.”
However, Ramsgate Town Council is instead going to promote the free parking at the Cannon Road car park with signage and on social media, he added.
“It’s only a short walk into the high street – we’ll publicise that, so hopefully it will become better for our residents and visitors,” Cllr Albon added.
The authority said revisiting the free parking proposal for the Royal Harbour multi-storey could be discussed again in the future.
