Unpopular parking charges for town centre delayed

St Albans City and District Council is delaying plans to introduce parking charges in the centre of Harpenden

Controversial plans to charge for parking in and around a busy high street have been delayed until 2025.

St Albans City and District Council had proposed charging £2.50 per hour for bays around the centre of Harpenden, Hertfordshire, which are currently free to park in.

The original proposals still allowed free parking twice per day for up to 20 minutes, which could now change to 30 minutes, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Harpenden Town Council does not support "any charges for on street-parking" in the town centre, but St Albans Council said funding was badly needed and "something has to give if a council is to stay afloat".

Arden Grove is one of the roads where paid parking is being considered

The council’s budget suggested parking charges would bring in additional income of £185,000 for 2024/25 and £268,000 in future years, helping to plug a £1.5m deficit in its on-street parking service.

Helen Campbell, chairperson of St Albans City and District Council’s public realm committee, said: "The council has a stark choice; find ways to make services pay for themselves and become sustainable, or ignore the gaps and risk not being able to present a balanced budget, falling into effective ‘bankruptcy’."

She added there had been "inaccurate" claims "the decision had already been taken before the consultation" and "the council is looking to profit out of people parking in Harpenden".

The Harpenden charges would apply to bays that are currently free for 30 minutes, one hour or two hours in the High Street, Station Road, Arden Grove, Church Green and other roads.

But Ms Campbell said the council was now considering changes to the plans, including:

• Charging for parking only after 09:00

• Switching to one free parking period of 30 minutes per day, rather than two periods of 20 minutes

• Allowing drivers to pay for parking in 30-minute chunks

Harpenden Town Council passed a motion to oppose any new on-street parking charges in the town centre

A full report on the consultation will be published after 17 October, with no new charges introduced before January.

A total of 1,774 people signed a petition to urge the council to rethink its plans.

Fiona Thomas, who runs boutique Oui and spoke on behalf of the Harpenden Retailers’ Association at a committee, warned businesses would lose customers.

She said: "Many independent retailers would be unable to withstand this loss of trade and would be forced to close."

St Albans City and District Council rejected a previous proposal from the town council that they form a partnership to "explore" alternative proposals.

Richard Scott, a town councillor, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service Harpenden residents have “totally and comprehensively rejected” the district council’s plans to charge for parking.