Parking charge scrutiny in Worthing

Business owners and councillors have criticised rises in town-centre car parking charges in Worthing.

A decision to increase everyday charges at some surface level and multi-storey car parks in Worthing, as well as seasonal ticket prices, by about 10 per cent rounded to the nearest 10p, was published on the council’s website on March 17.

The decision stated that following a review of charges in the town and comparing neighbouring authorities, the increase was ‘reasonable’ and essential services would be ‘negatively impacted’ if charges did not go up.

This decision-making process was called in for review by opposition leader Kevin Jenkins (Con, Goring), which was heard and debated by the council’s joint overview and scrutiny committee at its meeting on Monday, March 31.

Four business-owners asked questions at the meeting, raising concerns about a potential drop in footfall for town centre businesses as a result of higher charges.

They said due to recent work nearby on the district heat network by Hemiko, and lower charges elsewhere on the south coast, some businesses were already struggling, with one owner saying the town centre could turn into a ‘ghost town’.

An owner of a retail store in the Guildbourne Centre said: “A lot of us have already been pushed to the brink with what’s been going on in the high street and thank goodness that is now over, the last few months have been absolutely horrendous.

“So many people that I bump into, friends and family members, have said they have given up on coming into Worthing now because it’s such a nightmare.

“Now you’ve put the parking charges up, [if] this puts any more people off there are genuinely going to be people that I know who might not survive this – I just think it is a really risky strategy.”

Cllr Jenkins, who called the decision in for further review, said in a statement that including this rise, charges would have increased by 26 per cent over three years in Worthing, and added the council needed to listen to business owners.

“Local businesses have identified that on top of government changes to national insurance and other increases in business costs they are nearing breaking point and need support and not further increases in charges that they fear will drive people away from Worthing to other towns,” he said.

“The biggest increases focussed on the second and third hour length of stay in the MSCPs, which is the two times most common stay periods by visitors to the town. 

“Today we saw and heard from a council that claims to be a listening council for the community, that they don’t care, they won’t listen and have very much left businesses to their fate.”

The original decision maker, deputy council leader and cabinet member for regeneration Rita Garner (Lab, Tarring), said the council was working on a number of programmes to offset the impact of the increases and town centre works.

“We acknowledge that the roadworks are having an impact on footfall, particularly around the High Street car park, so we’re exploring mitigation plans”, said Cllr Garner.

“Following issues raised by businesses, officers have offered support and I understand the BID manager has completed a business case for free [on-street] parking vouchers to West Sussex County Council.

“[They] also facilitated Hemiko support for free parking for the first and last Sunday until July, starting this month.

“Regarding a working party to work together, the focus has been on working through the Worthing BID, and I realise we need to do more to hear more voices in the town.

“We review our parking charges annually, we feel our charges are broadly comparable to like of Horsham and Chichester with a range of tariffs depending on location.

“We also recognise there is a tipping point, beyond which any changes could have a detrimental impact on our income and businesses, so this is something we want to avoid given the council’s overall financial position”.

Worthing charges were raised alongside another decision released at the same time, to raise surface level car park and season ticket charges by 7 per cent, rounded to the nearest 10p, in Adur District Council.

The decisions were taken by both Cllr Garner and Adur’s cabinet member for environment and leisure Andrew Harvey (Lab, Eastbrook).

Grafton, Buckingham, and High Street MSCPs in Worthing town centre will be affected by the increased everyday and seasonal charges, whilst the Civic Quarter MSCP will only see an increase to everyday charges.

Beach House east and west, Brooklands Brighton Road East and West and Western Road, Lyndhurst Road, High Street, Montague Centre, and Teville Gate surface level car parks will see increases to their everyday rates.

Amelia Park, Beach House east and west, Lyndhurst Road, Teville Gate, Brooklands Brighton Road East and West and Western Road, and Marine Crescent surface car parks will see a 10 per cent increase to their season ticket prices.

To view the full table of updated charges for Worthing it can be found in a report at the bottom of democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1188 .

For Adur’s full table it can be found in a report at the bottom of democracy.adur-worthing.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1188.