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News | Transport


downsmail.co.uk Charges driving us out of town


CAR parking charges are set to bemassively increased under plans byMaidstone BoroughCouncil. Ticket prices are set to soar in off-


street sites, such as King Street, Lockmeadow, Mote Road, Mill Street, Medway Street and Palace Avenue. Some


charges, including


overnight tariffs, will remain un- changed – and in some cases, espe- cially in one hour charges, there will be aminor reduction. But the biggest hikes are in the


changes for up to a three hour stay. At King Street, this price leaps


from £2.50 to £3.90, at Palace Av- enue £2.50 to £3.75 and Lock- meadow £2.50 to £3.30. We have outlined a sample of the changes in the table below. The scheme received cross-party


support with some council mem- bers keen to see people using park and ride, a service which is under intense scrutiny presently. The council hopes the higher


charges will discourage motorists fromusing town centre car parking and consider the outer zone car parks. Marden borough councillor


David Burton, who was opposed to the rise in charges, said: “Money comes into Maidstone on four wheels and that shopper keeps the town alive.” Ukip borough councillor Eddie


Powell called for a rethink. He said: “This is absolutemadness. The biggest price hikes apply to the


Current charges


Up to 1 Hour Up to 3 Hours Up to 4 Hours


very people, shoppers, you want to be parking here. “The charges are far too expensive


as it is. If the M&S application at Eclipse Park goes through, people will go there instead. “It isgoingtofeel like another form


of taxation to the hard-workingmen andwomen ofMaidstone. “I seriously hope that this will be


re-thought and that some common sensewill prevail.” The owner of popularWeek Street


restaurant Mu Mu, Ciaran O’Quigley, said: “Maidstone can only take so many blows before it gets knocked down.We need to find ways of attracting people into the town centre, not driving them to placeswhere parking is free. “How many more nails does the


councilwant to hammer in?” Conservative county councillor


Gary Cooke accused the council of imposing the controversial policy of “modal shift” contained in the Local Plan through the price hikes. Modal shiftwouldencourage resi-


dents to walk, cycle or take public transport when there is an antici- patedsurge intrafficvolumes as a re- sult of 17,600 new homes contained in the Local Plan. The concept has been subject to


ridicule andderisionsince itwas first mooted as a means to mitigate against a sharp spike in traffic. Cllr Cooke added: “I suspect the


What it will cost to park in the town centre Off-street


Revised charges


parking place King Street Car Park


£1.50 Up to 1 Hour £2.50 Up to 3 Hours £4.00 Up to 4 Hours


Palace Avenue Car Park Up to 3 Hours Up to 4 Hours


Medway Street


Up to 3 Hours Up to 4 Hours


Wheeler Street Brewer Street (East)


Up to 1 Hour Up to 3 Hours Up to 4 Hours


Mote Road Mill Street


Lockmeadow


Up to 3 Hours Up to 4 Hours


Up to 3 Hours Up to 4 Hours Up to 5 Hours Over 5 Hours


4 Maidstone East April 2018


£2.50 Up to 3 Hours £4.00 Up to 4 Hours


£1.50 Up to 1 Hour £2.50 Up to 3 Hours £4.00 Up to 4 Hours


£1.30 £3.90 £5.20


Evening/Overnight £2.00 Evening/Overnight £2.00 £3.75


£5.00


Evening/Overnight £2.00 Evening/Overnight £2.00 Up to 1 Hour


£1.25 £3.75 £5.00


Evening/Overnight £2.00 Evening/Overnight £2.00 Up to 30Minutes £0.50 Up to 30Minutes £0.60


£1.00 Up to 1 Hour £2.50 Up to 3 Hours £3.50 Up to 4 Hours


£1.00 Up to 1 Hour £2.50 Up to 3 Hours £3.50 Up to 4 Hours


£1.10 £3.30 £4.40


Evening/Overnight £2.00 Evening/Overnight £2.00 Up to 1 Hour


£1.00 £3.00 £4.00


Evening/Overnight £2.00 Evening/Overnight £2.00 Up to 1 Hour


£1.00 Up to 1 Hour £2.50 Up to 3 Hours £3.50 Up to 4 Hours £5.00 Up to 5 Hours £6.50 Over 5 Hours


£1.10 £3.30 £4.40 £5.50 £7.00


council is using parking charges to try and compel motorists to leave their cars at home and use public transport. “There needs to be a better recog-


nition within the borough council that modal shift will only ever ac- count for a very small improvement in traffic congestion. “Ifwe are tomaintain an econom-


icallyvibrant towncentreweneedto make it attractive forvisitors to come toMaidstone andto spendmoney in our shops rather thanmakingitmore difficult andthereby encouraging al- ternative shopping centres where parking is frequently free.” Cllr John Perry, the Conservative


leader at MBC described “modal shift” as the “twomost fearedwords in the English language”. A spokesman for MBC said:


“Changes in the tariff are designed to promote migration from high demand car parks in the town cen- tre to outer zone car parks and park and ride whilst meeting the existing commitments in the inte- grated transport strategy and the low emissions strategy by min- imising unnecessary car journeys into the centre ofMaidstone.” The consulation for the new


parking charges ended on March 12.


Have your say WHY not express your opinion about the car parking charges by voting in our online poll. The survey asks the ques-


tion: Is Maidstone Borough Council right to propose price increases to off-street parking? Visit http://www.downs- mail.co.uk/views/7/


What the council said on increase


in parking costs WE posed these questions to Maidstone Borough Council about the increased parking charges with the responses below:


Q – Will there be a public meet- ing/exhibition? A – Tariff changes require a vari-


ation to the off-street traffic regu- lation order and this is carried out as part of a legal processwhich re- quires the council to advertise the changes as part of a statutory consultation process. The results of the statutory con-


sultation are fed back tomembers before implementation or varia- tion. There is no requirement for a


publicmeeting or exhibition in this case.


Q – Howmuch extra revenuewill be raised, based on the current usage?


A – Accurate forecasts are difficult. However, current estimates iden- tify an increase in revenue be- tween £54,000 and £198,000.


Q – How will the extra money generated be spent?


A – Close monitoring of car park usage and incomewill be fed back to members to make the final de- cision.


Source:MBC


MAIDSTONE was crippled by heavy snowfalls and plummeting temperatures whenmore than six inches fell in one night. The so-called Beast fromthe East


swept freezing weather and high winds in from Siberia bringing chaos to the roads. The M20 saw multiple accidents


during the cold snap,while treach- erous A roads were lined with abandoned vehicles and country roads, such as this one through Leeds village, became impassable in parts. The motorway was brought to a


standstill on numerous occasions to accidents. By Friday, after freezing rain


formed large patches of black ice all over the M20, bulletins were pepperedwith reports ofmulti-ve- hicle pile-ups and prangs. One observer said: “People thought the thaw had started on


the Friday when, in fact, the roads weremore dangerous than ever. “The freezing rain hit the ground


and formed lethal black ice. De- spite all the warning on the radio, TV, web and social media, people still drove far too fast.” The worst of the weather was


with us on Tuesday, February 27, and did not start to thaw properly until thermometers started to rise the followingweekend. Schools across the boroughwere


shut for four days as parents and staff struggled to get in. Kent County Council gritters


were sent out onto routes twice a day and therewere fewcomplaints the roads had not been treated. Pumps froze at several petrol sta-


tions including the BP and Tesco Metro on theA20. There was a further flurry of


snowonMarch 17 and 18 but it did not cause disruption.


downsmail.co.uk people


OUR online report about the pro- posed rise in parking charges prompted these responses on our Facebook page... Bridget Simmonds: No wonder don't


want to go into Maidstone. The traffic is awful, the parking is notmuch better, it's hideously ex- pensive


and


when I was in town the other week,


it was


filthy. The new M&S result


will in


more people not going into town Gloria Taylor-Petts: Bluewater be-


comes somuchmore appealing !  PaulWooding: After (the borough


council elelctions) on May 3, there has to be a serious shake up at MBC. Does anyone calculate what long-term effects Maidstone will suffer fromwith these crazy ideas? LindaWeeks:Well, we'll just have


to go to Canterbury more often then! A lovely city with a great Park&Ride. Maidstone will become


Transport |News Parking: you have your say


a ghost town before long at this rate. Geraldine Liston: The council is ru-


ining the town. The power is in the next local elec- tions (on May 3) so use your vote wisely . Frazer Hopper:


Don't care, rather go to Bluewater shopping anyway. And free to park at Rochester for the cinema, and restaurant and also at Hemp- stead valley. Lian Bennett:


Hempstead valley is free parking, so is Bluewater. Maidstone council's greed will be its downfall in the end and sad to to say the shops will suf- fer, too. Steve de Wiggondene-Sheppard:


Maidstone Borough Council is led by the Liberal Democrats. Wake up to this when you vote in


May. John Hannam: This does not add


up. Bus prices are equally ridiculous and the buses finish at 6pm.


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