Review of Northampton car park charges promised

7.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 27th Jun 2006

Northampton Lib Dems have pledged to take action on town centre car parking charges. The move follows a recent hike that has seen the hourly rate shoot up to 80p per hour in central car parks.

Leading the campaign for the Lib Dems, Borough Councillor Richard Church said: "The increases are hitting people hard, particularly those on low pay, including the thousands of town centre workers.

"People earning the minimum wage can't afford to fork out for an annual season ticket at nearly £1,400. Left to the Lib Dems, there would be a review of long stay charges and better season ticket incentives such as the option to buy a 3 or 6 month ticket.

Leader of the Lib Dems on Northampton Borough Council, Tony Woods added: "We agreed the budget in February and we have not reneged on that position. All three parties agreed to budget for a £500,000 increase in income from car parking.

"However, we want to try some innovative ideas to both boost the economy of the town centre, to help hard pressed workers and to secure the Council's income.

"At Monday's Council Meeting all Councillors agreed the Council's number one priority would be "To listen to local people and provide the services they need" - it is time for all parties to do just that.