Proposals for on street parking fees in Brighouse

The proposed new tariffs and the introduction of fees to on street parking and free car parks have been revealed by Mark Thompson, Group Director Economy and Environment at Calderdale Council, in his report to the Economy and Investment Panel.

Under original plans the report suggested at bringing charges into the free off street car parks in Mill Lane, Bank Street and Church Lane.

However, this option has now been dropped.

Members are now considering on street fees of either 70p or a £1 in town centre spaces in Bethel Street, Commercial Street, Market Street, Bradford Road and Briggate.

The report states that occupancy at the charged car parks averages around 40per cent. This includes Daisy St car park, the largest car park with 135 spaces, which has the lowest occupancy of around 19 per cent.

Mr Thompson said a variety of options have been considered for the Brighouse car parks including raising the hourly tariff but the panel should wait until the effects of the closure of Parsonage Lane car park are felt before they consider all the options.

In January 2014 car parking charges were introduced to the free car parks in Church Lane, Bank Street and Mill Lane by the Labour-led Council.

However the decision was reversed later in the year when the Conservative group took control.

Business and councillors in Brighouse said they saw a drop in the number of customers and a campaign was launched to abolish the parking charges.

More than 2,500 signatures were gathered on a petition against the charges.