Wokingham business owners slam rise in parking fees

Phil Edgecombe wrote to Wokingham Borough Council over concerns about car parking charges

A Berkshire business owner has called on a council to scrap increases to car parking charges to help "suffering" independent shops.

Phil Edgecombe has written to Wokingham Borough Council over fears businesses could be "forced out" of the town.

He said the rise in car parking charges and the presence of ticket enforcement officers is impacting footfall.

Council leader Stephen Conway said the authority is currently under "enormous" financial pressure.

It comes after Wokingham Borough Council increased the hourly charges for car parks in the centre of town, as well as introducing a £1 evening parking charge from 18:00 BST.

Mr Edgecombe, who runs Phil's Good Food in Broad Street, wrote an open letter to the council "demanding immediate attention and action" over the charge increase.

He wrote: "The fate of our town's market and independent shops hangs by the thinnest of threads.

"I firmly believe that within five years there will be no independent shops or market in Wokingham unless the borough council takes steps to encourage visitors to the town."

Mr Edgecombe said the current parking and enforcement policies were "hostile" to visitors and as a result "local businesses are suffering".

The owner of Phil's Good Food said he and other business owners had noticed a decrease in footfall since the rise in car parking charges

Figures from Wokingham Borough Council for car parking ticket sales in August 2022 show 42,598 tickets were issued.

In August 2023, after prices were increased, figures show the number of tickets had increased to 55,380.

Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire, Mr Edgecombe said he believed the increase was due to the council cutting alternative parking options by introducing yellow lines and limiting free on-street parking in the town centre.

Council leader Stephen Conway said the authority was under "enormous" financial pressure

Mr Conway said Wokingham Borough Council is "historically under-funded" by central government.

He said: "The council tax is not something we're keen to raise beyond the government's cap, so we have to try and find other ways of both making savings and trying to get revenue to cover the cost of our vital services.

"I do enormously sympathise with Phil and his predicament, we have started to do some work looking at the impact of the increase in car parking charges."

He also said the authority was aware of "problems of over-zealous enforcement" and they were "taking steps to remedy that".