Oxford Residents' Parking Charges

11.22.54am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 12th Sep 2006

Liberal Democrats have expressed their disappointment that the County Council is being asked to support a view on charging for residents' parking permits in Oxford before the results of the consultation are known. They are also disappointed that an amendment they proposed to add this to the motion was ruled out of order.

Cllr Alan Armitage said, "The Liberal Democrat group believes that we should not make up our minds before hearing what residents have said - and that report is due to be published very soon. This Labour motion is premature, so I suggested that it should be amended to say that residents should not be charged for parking until they have had an opportunity to express their views in a fair and impartial consultation.

"The consultation that has been done so far is certainly not seen by residents as being fair and impartial - and we think that a decision should be deferred until residents have also been consulted on other issues, such as:

• whether they would want to retain a controlled parking zone in their area if charging is introduced

• whether they would be prepared to pay if additional services such as annual renewal reminders, better enforcement and provision for contractors and home helps, for example, were introduced.

"I also think that it is strange, to say the least, that residents are being asked to pay to park in their own streets whilst there is free on-street parking for visitors in the evenings and on Sundays in the pay-and-display areas of the city. Residents are very angry about this, because it means that there is continuous pressure on roads into Oxford and in the city centre.

"Unfortunately, my amendment to this effect has been ruled out, so I will be voting for the Labour motion, although it is far less likely to succeed without my amendment."