New parking charges come into force in Wolverhampton city centre

Express & Star

Traders group representatives and customers of Tunwalls English Kitchen in Victoria Street have their say on the new charges

Transcript

00:00PaulJenkinsExpressAndStar.com on the day or the first weekday that the new parking charges

00:07come into effect in Wolverhampton City Centre. We're here with Caitlyn Jane Stackhouse at

00:15Tunwalls English Tea Room, Victoria Street. Lovely venue and you think you're going to be affected

00:22by it in terms of customer base? Yes, most definitely. The parking charges that council

00:29implemented are just going to have a detrimental effect on all the businesses in the area,

00:33not just mine. And footfall will definitely decrease instead of the promised increase that

00:38they told us about that was going to happen. And it's just more and more people aren't going to

00:43want to come into town. They're going to want to find somewhere cheaper. They might even go

00:47to Bentley Bridge or Bilston because their parking charges are cheaper or even free.

00:51And especially in the run-up for Christmas, that is seasonal and it's usually quite good

00:57for business around here. It's just typical timing from the council that this is happening.

01:02Yeah, you've got your regular customers. I guess you've got people, it's a busy city centre venue

01:07who do the shopping and then come in here for a cup of tea, a cake or whatever. How do you think

01:13that's going to be affected? The regular customers, I think they will continue coming in as many times

01:20as they can. But I know that most of them have got concerns about that they won't be able to do it as

01:24regularly because they just can't afford or they aren't willing to pay all these extra prices. And

01:31if they do come into town, they might park on the other side of town. So that means they're going to

01:35be walking around, I don't know, like 10, 15 minutes to get to us after their shopping and

01:40then all might drag all the shopping back to the car. If it was me, I wouldn't do it. But it's

01:46going to affect the workers and everything as well in the town and myself for parking. It's going to

01:50cost me, what, like 60, 70 quid a week for parking because obviously I get here at like

01:57eight o'clock in the morning, we finish at like four or five. So I'm paying a whole day parking

02:01fee all day and it's just going to cost quite a bit. And you're quite an active member of the Westside

02:07Traders Group. Yes, yes we are. Along with Andrew here, Andrew Bradley from Faith, Hope and Charity

02:15in Sallop Street shop. Now you've done quite extensive research that's saying some of the

02:21charges have gone up up to 500% for example in School Street. Just tell us a little bit, you've

02:28been parking on a local supermarket, we won't say which one, to avoid charges this morning? I did

02:35today, yes. Yes. So what do you think will be the effect on yourselves and others? I just think the

02:43the drag on an already poor retail situation in Wolverhampton will be incredible. I was parking

02:52for £2.20 and that charge will now go up to £9. I'm just not going to pay that and I don't believe

02:59anybody else will pay that. That's for over four hours but for people to do things like

03:08do their shopping and then come in to a cafe like this they need a good amount of parking

03:13charges. The parking charges for a short period of time aren't too bad at £1.50 or whatever for

03:20an hour but you can't come to a cafe or a restaurant if you parked just for an hour

03:25and people will obviously fear being fined. So it's, as Caitlin said, it'll just be easier to

03:32go to somewhere like Bilston, Wensfield, Bentley Bridge where they've got three hours free. I don't

03:40resent them perhaps putting the charges up a bit but 200%, 350% or 500% is ridiculous.

03:48And you mention about public transport, quite a few people use public transport but not always

03:54possible if, like you say, you've got mobility issues or you need to do a large shop.

04:03Absolutely, so you can't, so we have people delivering stuff and buying larger items

04:08and up until now they'll say where can we park and we can say oh you can park at

04:13Foulds Street and it was very reasonable priced but that's all gone now.

04:21Prices have just, we pay more in Wolverhampton than everywhere else in the region.

04:29Yeah, the council have said that they're going to be competitive with private operators and

04:35you said there are areas like School Street that are more reasonable if you like but you probably

04:42have to... Peel Street. Peel Street, sorry. But that's actually not true about that, so I've

04:48compared the NCP car parking charges to the new charges and NCP is far cheaper throughout the

04:56range. So as a group are you going to make representations to the council coming up to

05:02Christmas? Yeah, I mean it's happened very quickly with again no consultation so we sort of didn't

05:08know until and it's started today. I've walked through Market Street car park which normally

05:13would be absolutely random, there's five cars on it. Yeah, do you think that's going to continue?

05:21Yeah, absolutely. Because you use the car parks at weekends as well don't you, at the shop?

05:26Yeah. So did you notice on Saturday any difference or is it a bit early?

05:32It's only started today so it'll be next Saturday I'll notice. Yeah, okay we'll keep tabs on that.

05:39And two people enjoying their lunchtime coffees. Tony Barrett, I believe you're from Bushbury?

05:47That's right. Yeah, now you don't use the car as a rule do you? I've still got a driving licence,

05:54I haven't got a vehicle so I come into town by bus as well, you know, that's the way I get into town

06:02and yes I find our local bus service is quite convenient and could I plug a lovely little

06:10service the number 67 bus which is pretty much underused but it's an excellent service and

06:17that's how I get in and that's how I go home. What do you come into town for obviously to visit

06:25tunnels? Mainly sort of a change of scene, cafes, a little bit of shopping. I'm not a massive shopper

06:33at any one go but that's basically for leisure purposes and I think in common with a lot of

06:40people who, you know, that's what we enjoy. Yeah. I mean it's good for I think the town's businesses

06:48with a good essential element in that makeup, you know. And Tony's friend Nigel from West Park,

06:55I believe, you're a good advert for a healthy lifestyle because you walk part of the way

07:01don't you? Yes, I am a car owner but I walk from the West Park to the town centre every day and I

07:09often get the bus back home. The bus service is very good. I come into town to do a little light

07:17shopping, go to the bank, buy clothes etc from the shops and go to cafes. Is that a short stay

07:26when you're in town when you're in the city centre in your car? Oh it's very very rare that I would

07:32drive into the town centre. Yeah. I haven't parked in Moorhampton town centre for many months.

07:39Yeah. So I guess you haven't got great views on the parking because it doesn't really affect you.

07:46But what would you say to people who are going to be affected by the parking? Well I've got the,

07:54they have my sympathy. I was quite shocked when that gentleman told me how much the parking

07:58charges were. I didn't know how much it was to park a car. So I think it is shocking the high

08:04prices. And in terms of public transport do you think that the network's good around Wolverhampton

08:10city centre? The bus services are very good. Yeah. Okay well that's great. We're getting the views

08:18of people in Tom Wall's English Tea Room on Victoria Street on the first day of the

08:24new charges coming in. So thank you for all for taking part.

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