Is Greenwich Council’s 92% price rise at town centre car parks driving visitors away? Greenwich.co.uk investigates the impact of the parking price rise.
BIG increases in the cost of parking in Greenwich have delivered only modest increases in revenue for the council, Greenwich.co.uk today reveals.
Despite almost doubling the price per hour at the town centre’s pay and display car parks, revenue increases as a percentage are far lower and in some months, the car parks have generated LESS revenue than at the same time last year.
The cost per hour at the town centre’s pay and display car parks was put up from £1.30 an hour to £2.50 an hour in April this year – a rise of 92%.
But figures disclosed through a Freedom of Information request show that income was up at Cutty Sark Gardens car park by an average of just 14% between May and August compared with the previous year. During the same period at Burney Street, revenue went up by only 7.2% on average.
The disparity between price increase and revenue increase suggests that less people are using the town centre car parks since the price rocketed in April, or they are staying for shorter periods.
Burney Street Pay And Display
| 2010 Income | 2011 Income | Percentage change | |
| May | £19,182 | £22,918 | + 19.5 % |
| June | £21,183 | £15,895 | – 25 % |
| July | £20,383 | £26,527 | + 30.1 % |
| August | £24,711 | £25,712 | + 4% |
Cutty Sark Gardens Pay And Display
| 2010 Income | 2011 Income | Percentage change | |
| May | £22,517 | £21,627 | – 4 % |
| June | £17,540 | £22,452 | + 28 % |
| July | £15,329 | £18,044 | + 17.7 % |
| August | £22,068 | £25,168 | + 14.1% |
Leader of Greenwich Conservatives, Councillor Spencer Drury, is worried about the impact the price hike is having on Greenwich town centre.
“The Council think that extra parking charges will bring in extra revenue but these figures and the increasing number of empty parking spaces around Greenwich suggest that this is simply not the case. Having spoken with firms in Greenwich I know that they think that the increase in parking charges has damaged their business. So the Council is achieving a double whammy of lower revenue than they need combined with closing down small firms in Greenwich.
“It is rank stupidity to continue to pursue these increased charges when they are not raising extra revenue and are damaging our town centres. As an Eltham Councillor I am already collecting signatures on a petition against the charges being implemented here, where they risk doing untold damage to our High Street.”
Denise Hawkes, Senior Lecturer in Economic Sociology at the University of Greenwich, examined the figures:
“A price rise of 92% may at first appear to be counter productive however the evidence suggests that given the lack of other parking options in the town centre and the need for parking by a growing number of workers and students in the area, it results in a modest rise in revenue for the council.
“In addition it is likely to have increased the revenue to the council from parking tickets issued for overstaying purchased tickets as visitors attempt to moderate the cost of the parking by buying fewer hours at the cost of the local businesses in the area.”
Greenwich.co.uk asked Greenwich Council if they would be reviewing the impact the price rise has had on visitors to Greenwich town centre but they didn’t respond.
[The original version of this post had 18,895 as the figure for June 2011 at Burney Street. This was a typo and the figure has now been corrected to 15,895.]