According to a quick web search, There are 27 council-operated car parks in West Berkshire and 469 designated parking spaces available on-street in Hungerford, Newbury and Thatcham.

The Kennet Centre Newbury car park has 415 spaces all by itself. With just £1 per night, as a permit charge, that’s £151,475 of revenue possible from 1 car park.

At a recent exec council meeting the age-old issue of revenue from parking charges came up. Comments were made about the inevitable rise to help fill the funding gap created by Westminster’s current way of funding councils. I believe there is an alternative that could lead to greater revenue for the council. It also helps stimulate activity in our towns and villages while helping solve off-street parking for people who live near them.

1^st Off street parking. With more and more flats, especially from converted offices, finding a parking space is a problem. Simultaneously we have council car parks that are pretty much empty overnight. Why not create resident permits that allow residents to reserve an overnight space?

2^nd Time of use. The charge per hour rate can change for parking. Some simple analytics of car space utilisation combined with information from people like “the bid” Newbury, means we can encourage behaviour change. i.e. Making it cheaper when its quiet, most likely leads to more shoppers on quiet days. This should lead to higher overall revenue.

3^rd Increasing footfall. The above should help keep our high streets as vibrant and viable places to be.

Overall, I certainly see ways to use parking as a force for good. https://adrianabbs.uk/rwmbc to contact me.

Adrian Abbs

Independent prospective candidate for Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituency

Change can only come by doing something different. It’s time for change.