PARKING charges in Northwich have returned a fifth of the total installation cost during their first six months in force.

It cost Cheshire West and Chester Council £457,311 to buy and install meters at the Verdin, Memorial Court, Cumberland, Victoria Club, Market and Watermans car parks in November 2018.

And a Freedom of Information request shows that, by the end of May, the six car parks had seen just over £93,000 collected in parking payments and fines.

Parking charges were announced in August last year as part of CWAC’s 15-year parking strategy, in a bid to free up space for shoppers and town centre visitors by pushing long-stay motorists to the edges of town.

While a number of car parks – including the 900-space multi-storey at Barons Quay – remain free to use, charges ranging from just 20p up to £3 were implemented around the town centre.

The council says the parking strategy is helping to drive up footfall in the town centre, with the year-on-year increase exceeding national figures.

Deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, highways and strategic transport, Cllr Karen Shore, said: “Progress on the implementation of the council’s parking strategy in Northwich is encouraging.

"Figures on footfall published by Northwich BID for the calendar year to date show an increase of 13.93 per cent, compared to the same period in 2018. This is significantly higher than national or regional growth figures.

“Our aim to increase short-stay capacity has also been met. Figures show 40,000 vehicles per month use car parks in Northwich (excluding Barons Quay) which is approximately 1,300 per day.

"There are a total of 558 bays across the available car parks, which shows there is a relatively high turnover of vehicle use in the centrally located car parks as planned.

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“We’re also continuing to invest in car parking facilities in the town. Free parking has been maintained by creating a temporary car park on Leicester Street and a planning application will shortly be submitted to turn the disused Old Depot site into a free parking area.

"The site is currently in a poor state so significant investment will be made to turn the site into a safe parking area.”

Since November 27, when charges were first enforced, 41,797 motorists have paid to park in the six car parks listed above – totalling £65,560 in revenue at an average of £1.57 per transaction.

Enforcement officers have issued 1,471 fines, totalling £27,514 at an average of £18.70.

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Meanwhile, maintenance at the sites comes out of the council’s annual agreement for all car parks, totalling £26,456 for the current year.

Conservative members had opposed – and continue to protest – the implementation of paid parking across the borough, and a petition to repeal Northwich charges attracted more than 3,000 names earlier this year.

Northwich Guardian:

Cllr Helen Weltman, Conservative member for Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead ward, was told by CWAC in September that they hoped to repay the expected £402,000 spend over the course of two years.

Cllr Weltman added: “These costs have exceeded that.

“This doesn’t include revenue costs for servicing and repairs or any costs of car parking improvements.

“I presume it doesn’t cover the cost for parking attendants who issue the fines, or the two parking attendants who sat full time at the Memorial Court for two months because the machines didn’t work properly.

“Going forward It would be interesting to see a breakdown of who is paying to use which car parks – shoppers, shop staff, or leisure users.”