Welwyn Hatfield rises: Parking, cinema and green waste

Welwyn Hatfield Council needs to make £2.2m of savings next year

Prices for car parking, cinema tickets and green waste collection are due to rise in two Hertfordshire towns.

The plans for Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield come as the borough council tries to balance its books.

The Conservative-run council has to save £2.2m by "by 2024-25".

The council said most savings would come from working more efficiently, but opposition councillors questioned whether residents would continue to use council services if prices rose.

A vote on the proposals is expected next month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

They include raising the cost of residents' parking permits from £30 to £40, and from £50 to £65 for a second vehicle.

Prices would go up by between 10 and 12.8% at the Hatfield multi-storey, Hunters Bridge, Campus West, Campus East and Cherry Tree car parks, with an all-day ticket at most of them rising from £6.60 to £7.30.

'Increasingly tough'

Parking would remain free for up to three hours in Hatfield, and up to 30 minutes in Welwyn Garden City, but then rise.

The cost of visiting Campus West cinema in Hatfield would go up from £8.50 to £9.50, with entrance to Mill Green Museum and Welwyn Roman Baths up from £5 to £5.60 for adults.

The cost of collecting green waste would increase from £40 to £50 for the first bin and £80 for a second.

There would also be rises in burial and cremation charges.

Tickets for screenings at Campus West cinema could rise by £1.00

Stephen Boulton, Conservative councillor responsible for resources, said the council was planning significant investment.

"For over a decade, we have faced an increasingly tough challenge to set a balanced budget with minimal impact on our front-line services," he said.

"We have a record of achieving the majority of this by working more efficiently, and that is the case again this year."

Liberal Democrat group leader Paul Zukowskyj said: "I don't think the council has any choice but to raise charges without long-term funding from the government.

"We talk about people using our town centres, so we ought to keep charges as low as possible, but there is a huge pressure on council finances."

The Labour group leader Lynn Chesterman said: "All of these price rises have to be balanced against whether people will actually come to the cinema or the car parks, because if they don't, then the council won't continue to make money from these services."

The council's cabinet is due to discuss the proposals on Tuesday, with a final vote due at full council on 1 February.