A SHAKE-UP of car parking charges has been proposed by Carmarthenshire Council.
It runs 67 car parks and said it wants a more simple system than currently.
A council report has now made two main recommendations: a simplified tariff structure including a reduced tariff for rural areas; or a uniform £1 per hour tariff across all chargeable car parks with no distinction between urban and rural locations.
The report said four other things could also be considered: introducing one hour free parking across chargeable car parks; discontinuing existing free parking periods; removing free parking days offered to town councils; and aligning Ammanford with Carmarthen and Llanelli as a principal town within the tariff structure.
“The vision is to deliver a simple, fair and sustainable parking strategy that is consistent, accessible, efficiently managed and financially resilient, supported by evidence and to be responsive to local needs,” it said.
There was a lot for members of the place, sustainability and climate change scrutiny committee to take on board when they discussed the report and concerns were raised about Ammanford, where parking tariffs are slightly lower than in Carmarthen and Llanelli, aligning with these two towns as it was smaller and had less footfall.
Some councillors didn’t like the prospect of town councils losing the current perk of having up to five free parking days per year, which often coincided with special events. The report said footfall increases on those days were more likely because of the events rather than the free parking.
Councillors also felt protective of current free parking offers at certain times in certain towns. The report said analysis showed these offers had little or no measurable impact on town centre footfall.
“The introduction of one-hour free parking would align with observed parking behaviour and provide a simple, consistent benefit available every day rather than at specific times or dates,” it said.
“Should this approach be adopted, the rationale for retaining separate free parking periods and town council free parking days is significantly reduced, as the primary parking incentive would already be available to residents and visitors throughout the year.”
Cllrs Colin Evans and Kevin Madge said the proposals should be shared with town and community councils before any decisions were made.
Daniel John, the council’s head of environmental infrastructure, said feedback from town councils relating to a separate consultation about ways of making Ammanford, Carmarthen and Llanelli thrive had identified parking as a key issue. He said that feedback had fed into the new parking proposals under consideration.
It’s still early days and a report will go before cabinet before any decisions are made.
Cllr Lewis Davies suggested the committee should recommend to cabinet a simplified tariff structure including a reduced tariff for rural areas, plus an hour’s free parking, the ending of free parking periods but the retention of free parking days.
It was seconded before a further suggestion was made that the report should be shared with town and community councils. A majority of the committee voted in favour.
Make then free
Wendy Mathias make car parks free then you’ll have to pay more in council tax, can’t win either way.
An hour free parking isn’t enough. Allowing time to walk from the car park and back again doesn’t leave much time to shop.
While I agree with the 2 comments here, on Saturday and Sundays there’s a free car park in Coleshill terrace, but some are to lazy to walk from there to town.
Colin Jones just checked as wasn’t sure and things seem to have changed in this car park?
Media: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10244966382193614&set=p.10244966382193614&type=3
Wherever you had that from it’s totally inaccurate, Coleshill car park is used by council staff from Monday-Friday.
The nearest car parks that are free near Coleshill are , Church St and Vauxhall car parks.
I
From Carms CC Site.
They could have worded it better, by stating free between 10am and 4pm they mean at other specific town centre ones.
Coleshill Terrace Car Park (managed by Carmarthenshire County Council) offers free parking on Saturdays and Sundays. On weekdays, standard council parking charges apply, except during specific town centre promotional periods (Mondays and Tuesdays 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM for general short-stay spaces).Location & DetailsAddress: Coleshill Terrace, Llanelli, SA15 3DE (located behind Llanelli Town Hall and near The Skills Hub and Coleshill Centre)Distance/Time: Less than a 3-minute drive from central Llanelli.Weekend Access: Free all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
Colin Jones I can only provide what came up! From memory Coleshill only used to be free for town events and Xmas. But that was whilst I was working and not used it since that time. But like I said what I attached is what came up. Council site didn’t mention Coleshill from what I searched.
Colin Jones some are not lazy but disabled. Disabled parking in town is so limited .
There are loads of disabled places in town, unfortunately non disabled people use them sometimes.
There are loads of disabled places in the multi storey, with 2 lifts.
I’d like to see a pay for what you stay system
That’s plaid for you. Reap what you sow people.
Free parking everywhere will help out local shops and businesses and put more money in everyone’s pockets and revive dead town centers . But the councils don’t want that they want to squeeze every single drop of blood out of you
Trev T Carpenter I’d support free parking, but the problem you face then is council tax rises even more, so whatever happens we don’t win.
James Stevens council tax has been rising year in year out and we’re getting less and less services . Cwmbran don’t charge for parking and it’s quite busy there .
Trev T Carpenter 1 hour free or 2 hours for disabled people is a step forwards, free parking won’t fix the problems in the town, this is a national problem, that’s caused by a number of issues, one being, we have changed the way we shop, we do a lot online and out of town shopping is very popular for a number of reasons.
This isn’t a simple problem to solve!
Cheryl Jones read my response to James and it is an easy way to resolve . The more footfall the more chance they spend money . That’s not rocket science
Trev T Carpenter ok, ive just read your response, it was limited, you can’t just use Cwmbran as an example,
Lets take Llandeilo, they have a busy street full of independent shops, but yet they charge for parking, but they don’t have an out of town retail outlet, and the shops are all independent, niche businesses.
I think that would help Llanelli, a mixture of the flats above the shops being occupied and the pedestrian area full of individual niche shops and a cafe culture, where lovely little shops are open until 10pm, with European style cafés selling food coffee, wine etc, where people come to chat, eat and shop.
This works remarkably well all over Europe, so why not here?
Not everyone wants to sit in pubs!
Cheryl Jones yes independent shops would help Llanelli as they used to but the out of town retail parks killed that off so why not at least try and make it more welcoming so small businesses can open up . Also llandeilo is tiny compared to Llanelli and there’s not much else around it
Trev T Carpenter Llandeilo isn’t tiny at all, remember it serves a large rural community, but as you say, it doesn’t have an out of town retail outlet and I think thats important!
If you compare the main street in Llandeilo with Stepney street Llanelli, they’re about the same size.
So what are the differences here?
1. Out of town shopping.
2. Independent niche shops.
They are the two main differences, so not parking charges at all.
I honestly believe if we use the European model modified with a Llandeilo style main street we can regenerate the town centre.
Worth thinking about, isn’t it! 👍
Cheryl Jones population of llandeio is under 2000 and the population of Llanelli town is just under 25500 so as I said llandeio is a hell of a lot smaller than Llanelli . The biggest problem Llanelli has is it’s run by incompetent councils that have no clue what they’re doing . All Carmarthenshire council care about are themselves
Trev T Carpenter the difference in population should make it easier for Llanelli then, shouldn’t it, more people to shop, except of course we have an out of town retail outlet!
But you would rather blame this council rather than recognise this is an issue which is England and Wales wide!
If its this council why is it happening everywhere?
Cheryl Jones ok then instead of arguing with people all the time what are your suggestions to make Llanelli or any other towns that are dead come alive again . Ask yourself why certain places in the UK are doing better than others . I bet if anyone other than plaid were in charge of Carmarthenshire you’d be blaming them for everything .
Trev T Carpenter ive just given you all my answers, (some very good ones too) in my previous comments, have you forgotten them already?
You are the one who wants to blame a Plaid council for everything, just like you want to blame the very new Plaid government for everything, that’s because no matter how pathetic and incompetent Reform are, you don’t want anyone else!
Cheryl Jones so how are you going to do all the stuff you said without getting the council involved . I would rather not have to blame the council but they are the reason behind all of this you should take your blinkers off and just take a look around . I would call out any party that doesn’t work for the people in their communities unlike you that thinks the sun shines out of plaid backside . I’ve supported numerous parties over almost 40 years of working only to end up disappointed by what they’ve turned out to be . You call reform incompetent yet your eyes are shut to the total incompetence of plaid council in the handling of burryport harbour . Go and take a close look at how much money they’ve wasted on that one project alone .
They want to charge more?
Alleljula praise the lord ,1 hour of free parking forever in your debt of gratitude
Hopefully making all car parks free,
How about making car parking free from 10am until 4pm EVERY day of the week, including weekends. After all, we already pay more than enough Council tax. The council should not be adding up the money they would lose; they should be encouraging more people to come to our town. Doing so would set an example not only in Carmarthensire but to neighbouring Councils like Swansea.