Car Parking in Hucknall

By far, the most popular subject and indeed the subject which elicits the strongest views, is car parking in Hucknall. There are issues surrounding the charges for car parks and the new Traffic Wardens.

We feel that it would be wrong for Hucknall Business Voice to impose political opinions. Therefore this article seeks to offer views on all sides of this story. Therefore there is likely to be things with which you agree and things with which you do not agree.

If you feel we have missed off any important aspect then please contact us.

Car Park Charges

The Facts

There are three car parks that are free in Hucknall. One is the large car park at the tram station, another is the large car park at Tesco and the third is a tiny car park on Albert Street. All the other municipal car parks are pay-and-display at a cost of 20p per hour.

Ashfield council receives £140,000 in annual revenue from all car parks in the Ashfield area which contributes towards the cost of £190,000 in maintaining them. The Piggins Croft car park behind Wilko accounts for £50,000 of this revenue.

Arguments Against the Charge

If someone wants to pop into Hucknall to buy a few items and perhaps get some money from the cash point, they can do this at Tesco for no charge. If they use the town centre they will have to pay at least 20p (assuming they have the correct change). Therefore, it can be argued that this is helping to boost Tesco's dominance in the town centre and gives them an unfair advantage.

Furthermore, there would ineviutably be savings on the £190,000 in maintenance costs as there would no longer be any need to collect the cash nor to maintain the pay-and-display machines.

Arguments For the Charge

There is undeniably a lot of revenue generated by the pay-and-display machines and if this is taken away, somebody will have to pay for it. If this means adding a levy of say £100 per business, then this would seem a worthwhile thing to do. If on the other had the levy would have to be closer to £1,000, this is not a sum that we feel Hucknall businesses would be willing to absorb.

The charge is also very modest. Mansfield, for example, charges quadruple the rate that Ashfield Council charges.

Summary

The arguments both for and against car park charges are somewhat complex and there is no easy answer. We hope that the debate that we have started will help us all in reaching a rational conclusion to this hot subject.

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