Ruth is attending a Scrutiny meeting on Monday 10 January to present a paper to councillors on car park tariffs at Headington car parks

Those of you who braved the snow and came to the last NE Area Committee meeting will know that many residents’ groups and businesses have huge concerns about the proposed increases which even the officer calls “significant”

The paper outlines some alternative ways to raise car parks income so that rises don’t have to be so severe. Here are just some of our concerns:

• Families and friends of Old High Street residents unable to find the very few visitor spaces available in Old Headington  will have to pay £12.50 for a stay of four hours in Headington Car Park on Sundays
• Resistance to the increase in charges (for 2-3 hours, the charge is set to double from £1.50 to £3.00)  will mean less trade for our businesses as shoppers will park for as short a time as possible because of the expense

We have worked with members and officers of local residents groups and businesses to come up with an alternative plan which will generate as much income but encourage shoppers to stay for up to two hours. We shall see how much support the Labour councillors will give to these ideas and will let you know the result. You can find the relevant papers here.

In the recent past, these tariff charges have been decided by local councillors at Area Committees but a decision has been made by the City Executive Board that they will be made centrally now and in the future. We’ll know tomorrow whether that change is for better or worse!