Concerns over future of council owned car parks

Cornwall Council said the decentralisation of some of its car parks was part of a plan to save £2m

Concerns have been raised following a bid to offload up to 50 council-owned car parks in Cornwall.

Cornwall Council said the decentralisation of some of its car parks was part of a plan to save £2m.

Local councillors said they were concerned about the car parks being managed by "unpleasant" enforcement companies.

Senior council officer Phil Mason told an economic scrutiny meeting on Wednesday there was no final agreed list of car parks which could be passed to new owners.

Income from car parks

The council currently owns 231 car parks and receives about £300,000 annually from car park enforcement income, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

It said paid income from parking was roughly about £18m per year.

Mr Mason said between 40 and 50 cars parks were thought to be transferred under the plans, adding a named list would be made public in the autumn.

Councillor Tim Dwelly said the council could make a greater income if it used automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

Mr Mason said legislation was available to allow local authorities to install the technology, but the government has not yet authorised certified equipment.

Councillor Peter Channon shared concerns about the plans, adding "everyone knows how contentious parking is with these companies”.

“We provide a service and, let’s not kid ourselves, parking enforcement can get very, very unpleasant – everyone’s been a victim of it," he said.

The scrutiny committee agreed council leader Linda Taylor should make a devolution request to government to give the council the power to use ANPR cameras.

It recommended charging was considered for all council-owned car parks and agreed any transferred car parks should be part of the JustPark Wallet scheme, which allows discounted rates for regular users.