Oxford City Council pocketed an extra £364,000 after taking on park-and-ride schemes in the city and charging in more car parks.

A total of £338,000 from the three park- and-ride depots, along with an extra £26,000 from new charges at parks and open spaces, took the authority’s earnings from parking to £4.26m in the last financial year.

That compares to £3.9m the year before. In the past five years the city council has made £20m from its car parks.

It comes after the county council handed over control of three park-and-ride schemes and the city started charging visitors to parks and open spaces for parking.

The authority has argued it needs some of the cash to pay its £1.97m annual bill tol Continued from Page 1
keep its car parks going, and keeps charges high to encourage people to cycle or use public transport.
The rest of the money each year goes into the authority’s revenue stream, and as it is not ring-fenced it can be spent on any council services from rubbish collection to council house repair.
Despite the overall increase, the amount raised from other car park charges has actually slightly dropped in the past year, by £15,000.
But traders in the city say charges should still be brought down.
Entrepreneur Clinton Pugh, who owns Cafe Coco, Kaz Bar and Cafe Tarifa, said: “This really shows how much they want to encourage business into the city.
“I think the whole thing is completely wrong. If you go to other towns like Witney, you park for free because they want people to go there.
“I think the whole of Oxford’s transport strategy needs to be looked at.”
Drivers pay up to £3.90 to park for just one hour in some city car parks, and more than £30 for 24 hours.
Other cities of similar sizes have lower charges. It costs just £1.30 to park for an hour in Gloucester, and £6 for the whole day, while a visit to Cambridge would set motorists back £1.80 for an hour, and £23 for a whole day. A report from the RAC Foundation shows Gloucester City Council made a surplus of £1.1m in the year 2010 to 2011, while Cambridge City Council made £4.4m.
Graham Jones, is spokesman for traders’ group ROX and has his own business consultancy. He said: “We would prefer to see a drop in those charges and more people coming in for serious shopping.”
The council now charges for parking at parks and open spaces at Alexandra Courts, Middle Way, Cutteslowe Park, Harbord Road; Elsfield Way, Hinksey Park, Abingdon Road and Walton Well Road.
Oxford City Council spokesman Annette Cunningham said: “To put things in context our car parkshave a combined value of over £20m.
“Like any asset, such as your home, there is a cyclical need for repairs, maintenance and improvement and the council has to put money aside for this purpose.
“The Transport for Oxford Strategy placed the emphasis for travel into the city centre on park and ride services, public transport and other alternatives to use of the private car most notably cycling.
“Car parking charges are set to reflect this policy which has been successful in significantly reducing city-centre congestion and improving air quality in the city centre and along the main access routes.”

 

County council deficit:

OXFORDSHIRE County Council’s parking revenues ran up a deficit of £45,000, a report has shown.
Last year, the council faced criticism after making a surplus of £110,442.76.
But figures released by the RAC Foundation for 2010/11 show the council made a loss.
The council is responsible for parking permits and enforcement.
No-one from the authority was available for comment last night.

 

 

 

At a glance:

The council surplus from car parks in the past financial year
Oxford City.............................£3,918,000
South Oxfordshire District..........£342,000
Vale of White Horse District.........£91,000
Cherwell District ..............£0 (broke even)
Oxfordshire County ...........minus £45,000
West Oxfordshire District............£134,000