'Free parking proposal is inappropriate'

Lucy Nethsingha does not support the free parking plan

Proposals for free parking in some areas are "inappropriate", a council leader has said.

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority plans to allocate £1.2m towards free parking in Peterborough and parts of Huntingdonshire.

Cambridgeshire County Council's Liberal Democrat leader Lucy Nethsingha told a board meeting of the combined authority on Wednesday: "I don't think it's reasonable to expect council taxpayers from across the whole of Cambridgeshire to pay for free car parking in some areas and not other areas."

Paul Bristow, the Conservative mayor, has claimed free parking would improve footfall in Peterborough city centre and support shops.

He has said there have been discussions with Peterborough City Council about introducing the measure, but a deal was yet to be made and he has since hinted towards working with a private operator instead.

The city council said that for the mayor to introduce free parking in the city centre seven days a week, it would require funding of £3.4m.

Parts of Huntingdonshire and Peterborough could get free parking for a period of two years, the mayor has said

Nethsingha told the meeting the proposals were "certainly not something that will be a priority as far as I'm concerned", later adding: "I think that's an inappropriate proposal."

In response, Bristow said: "I'm not sure how helpful it would be right now for me to give a defence of why I want to do this, in terms of supporting our city centres and high streets.

"You're probably well aware of the arguments I would put forward and I'm well aware of the arguments you would counter with."

He added that he looked forward to receiving public feedback.

Richard Wood, from Cambridge Area Bus Users, who asked a public question, said he knew of a town that had introduced free parking and that was "in danger of declining bus usage, higher fares and that downward spiral".

He added: "In our own area there is one city which does have free parking and has had that for a long time and has lost every single one of its commercial bus services, meaning that the authority has had to step in and subsidise those services that are necessary. That is Ely."

Bristow said the main challenge for retailers in the centre of Peterborough was not bus or train users but "the car drivers who no longer arrive because of the cost of parking in the city centre".

"The disparity between driving to an out-of-centre-retail park, of which there are many in Peterborough, and driving to central Peterborough is what I'm trying to address," he said.