Councillor voted against car parking charge plan to save Sandbach's "booming economy"
By Deborah Bowyer 23rd Sep 2021
A Sandbach councillor says he voted against plans to raise £1m in council revenue from parking charges to protect the town's booming economy.
Councillor Mike Benson, who sits on Cheshire East Council's highways and transport committee, said plans to introduce car parking charges in council car parks in Sandbach made him "very, very nevous".
He said traders in the town were forging ahead providing shoppers with a "clever mix" of retail and Sandbach's restaurant and pub trade was also booming.
Cllr Benson said businesses had worked hard to get back on their feet following lockdowns and were working well under Covid.
He said: "We have a lively, thriving economy but at a stroke that could change and I am reluctant to do something which would destroy what is being built here.
"We've only got to look at places like Stockport and Bramhall to see what has happened there.
"We need to be very, very careful. I agree that it's a matter for local areas to consider on a town by town basis.
"Traders know what the impact will be and It's important to take into account local feelings and knowledge. One size doesn't fit all."
Applause and cheers rang out from the public gallery at Macclesfield Town Hall as members of the highways and transport committee voted by eight to five against the proposal to go out to public consultation on the charges at Tuesday's meeting.
Middlewich councillor Mike Hunter (Lab), also voted against the new charging proposals, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "It is dead in the water.
"It does present us with problems down the line budget wise – we have got to find £1m – but, at the end of the day, as you can tell from the people that were in this hall and the amount of people that were against these parking charges, it's a victory for residents, not just in Middlewich but in Alsager and Holmes Chapel and other places around Cheshire East, and that's what matters.
Wilmslow councillor Don Stockton (Con) asked why the council had not done the review on a town by town basis instead of proposing a standardised charge across the borough.
"Standardisation is not the way forward in my mind," said Cllr Stockton.
He added: "Parking isn't just about car parking charges, it's about the vitality of the towns, it's about the fact that when people try and avoid car parking charges they'll just go and park on the street outside someone's house and the residents will get upset."
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