The Isle of Wight Council have unanimously voted to reconsider the proposed changes to parking charges in Ryde.
As previously reported by Island Echo, the Council announced at the end of October that as part of the 2019/2020 Budget they would seek to introduce additional on-street charging for parking in Ryde and Newport. The news that motorists may have to pay to park on Ryde’s Union Street and other streets from April 2019 was met by a public backlash, with fears parking charges would kill Ryde town.
A petition calling for a halt to the idea of adding paid-for parking in Ryde Town was created by local Councillor Karen Lucioni in response to the announcement. That petition has now pushed councillors to stop and rethink their plans. Some 3,850 people have put their name to the Change.org petition at https://www.change.org/p/isle-of-wight-council-no-parking-fees-for-ryde-town.
Cllr Lucioni has said:
“I believe – and so do the thousands of people that have signed this petition – that introducing parking charges for the town centre will badly affect the town centre businesses and lead to closures as a result of people altering their shopping habits.
“I do welcome the news that business associations are meeting with the council later this month. It is also the case, however, that the individual residents – who stand to pay the price – are without a voice and a formal forum in which to raise their collective concerns. This petition delivers the collective voice of thousands of your residents who have spoken”.
The decision to re-think the controversial proposals was made at last night’s Full Council meeting at County Hall.
Councillor Wayne Whittle has suggested changing the parking zone format of Union Street so that it is classed as 1 area, instead of 4. This would stop businesses moving their cars to different areas throughout the day, thus raising revenue in the car parks and freeing up spaces for shoppers.
The Isle of Wight Council will hold a public event early next year before making any final decisions.
