Completed petition Charging for Parking and the Relationship to High Streets and Their Success

We, the undersigned, call upon the National Assembly for Wales to urge the Welsh Government to commission research, in partnership with local authorities in Wales, to assess fully the relationship between car parking charges and successful local high streets.

Prof Calvin Jones of Cardiff Business School has emphasised the negative economic impact of car parking charges, especially in market towns. In the light of this - and a current Ministerial study on the issue - we call upon the Welsh Government to urge Welsh local authorities to impose a moratorium on the introduction of car parking charges at new sites in their ownership and any increase in parking fees until the 2017 election.

In addition, we urge the Welsh Government to ensure that local authorities engage proactively with relevant town and community councils, before implementing any changes in the local car parking regime. Town and community councils should be given the opportunity to adopt car parks in their area - as no one is better placed to understand the dynamics of the local high street - before any other options, notably outsourcing of management, is contemplated.

Finally, we call upon the Welsh Government to make clear and transparent regulations governing the procedures relating to car parking charges to be followed by local authorities.