Parking in Halifax: Contentious parking charge hikes approved for 'premium spots' in Halifax, Hebden Bridge and Brighouse to stop town centres getting "clogged up with vehicles"

The proposals to up how much it costs to park in spaces in Halifax, Brighouse and Hebden Bridge were approved by Calderdale Council’s cabinet yesterday despite concerns about their impact and that future rates can be decided by council officers – not councillors.

They also agreed to borrow £620,000 to fund new ticketing machines on Calderdale parking spaces, to replace current ageing hardware, with these costs to be recouped from parking services.

A move to delegate decisions on future charges or charging periods to two senior council officers was also approved – a proposal questioned by non-cabinet councillors in the meeting’s public question time.

Coun Sarah Courtney, Cabinet member for Regeneration and Transport, said not every Calderdale town is the same, and this will mean charging policy will be different in each, with the rises approved by cabinet being areas where demand was high.

Hitting mainly on-street parking bays, an aim is to persuade drivers to use outer car parks and ensure central on-street spaces are not “clogged up".

Coun Courtney (Lab, Calder) said: “Increasing parking charges is never popular but pricing is the most effective way to manage kerb space, and a town centre clogged up with vehicles is not going to be safe, vibrant and economically successful regarding the place it is in.

“The measures aim to ensure sufficient turnover of spaces, particularly those that are at a premium in busy town centres and to encourage the use of car parks for anything other than the shortest stays.”

The proposed parking charge hikes have caused concerns from business owners that visitors will be turned off coming to town centres with the new prices.

The decision to delegate future decisions on the issues to officers was criticised by Coun Steven Leigh (Con, Ryburn) and Coun Mike Barnes (Labour).

Coun Leigh said: “Last year the Conservative group called in the previous report on parking charges – now this year’s report intends to by-pass future scrutiny by proposing to delegate authority to council officers over any future changes to parking charges.”

Coun Barnes wrote to Cabinet: “Today’s cabinet papers are looking to further delegate powers to officers which would take said decisions outside of the scrutiny process, resulting in a diminution of democracy.

"Why is the cabinet seeking to reduce the key role that councillors have in shaping the future of our borough?”

Cabinet member for Resources, Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab, Todmorden) said the delegation to officers would allow the council to respond quickly to private sector businesses operating parking spaces.

There was no intention to reduce the role of councillors who were always able to consider a review of policy or process through the relevant scrutiny boards, she said.

Ruling Labour group Cabinet members said both charges and the policy changes reflected those in similar authorities.

It is estimated the Halifax on-street changes could bring in an extra around £55,000, the Halifax off-street changes around £10,000, the Hebden Bridge on-street changes around £107,500, the Hebden Bridge off-street changes around £42,500, and the Brighouse changes around £100,000 – around £315,000 in total.

Here are all the parking areas hit by the price increase:

All “mid-stay” four hour bays in Halifax – and the two-hour bay at Akroyd Place – seeing fees rise from 60p to £1 per hour.

Long stay parking bays at King Street, Cripplegate and Mulcture Hall Road, Halifax, see an extension of charging hours to 8pm and covering Monday to Sunday, with rates remaining at 50p per hour and capped at £3.50 (and £2.50 on Saturdays).

Long stay car parks at King Street, Mulcture Hall Road and Prescott Street, Halifax, see charging hours extended to 8pm, with existing hourly 50p rate and £2.50 caps remaining, but covering the whole week, Monday to Sunday.

In Hebden Bridge, all parking spaces are described in the report as “premium”.

Increasing the rates at Hebden Bridge on street short-stay one hour bays at Albert Street, Crown Street, Cheetham Street, Carlton Street and Home Street will see fees rise from 20p to £1 for the half hour rate and from 40p to £2 for the hourly rate.

In Hebden Bridge’s long stay bays at Old Gate, Hangingroyd Lane, Regent Street and Valley Road, will increase from 90p per hour to £1 per hour.

Short stay four-hour bays in Hebden Bridge at St Pol and St George’s Square car parks will see rates hiked from £1 per hour to £2 per hour.

Long stay car parks at Market Place, Garden Street, New Road and Station Road in Hebden Bridge will see a rise from 90p per hour to £1 per hour.

In Brighouse, short stay pay and display one hour bays at Commercial Street, Bradford Road, King Street, Market Street, Gooder Street and Briggate will see rates rise from 20p to £1 for the half hour slots and from 40p to £2 for the one hour slots.