Parking charges 'will lead to business closures'

Residents in Clevedon are calling for a stop to on-street paid parking

A street could be boarded up within five years if the council introduces parking charges, shopkeepers have warned.

A petition signed by 4,351 people was delivered to a full meeting of North Somerset Council on 11 November, urging the council not to introduce parking charges on Hill Road in Clevedon.

At the meeting, Tristan Merriam of Doghead Designs told councillors on-street parking charges would "unquestionably" lead to businesses closing. He said like many independent shops he relies on "passing footfall".

"If parking becomes paid, that spontaneous footfall will drop. People will think twice about stopping. They will go somewhere else, somewhere free, somewhere easier," Mr Merriam said.

Hill Road is located some way from the town centre, just up the hill from Clevedon Pier.

At the meeting, Hill Road's local councillor Michael Pryke compared introducing parking charges on the street to the Clevedon seafront "fiasco".

He said: "Once again, local people are shouting from the rooftops and once again it seems no one at North Somerset Council is listening."

Shopkeepers on Hill Road worry about their future if parking charges are introduced

Sandy Prater, of Fizz Gallery, said: "I've run my business on Hill Road for 20 years and I can honestly say this is the most worried I have ever been about the future. More so than in the 2008 recession."

The money raising measure is one of a host of ways North Somerset Council is trying to balance its budget.

The council is currently facing a £25m budget gap next year, largely driven by increasing costs of, and demand for, social care.

At the meeting in 2024 when the council executive voted to bring in the charges, council leader Mike Bell said: "We cannot justify subsidising parking when we are having to cut care services for vulnerable adults and children."