Parking mad - £15 permit plan sparks local anger

Permit holders only sign on Ethel Street, Hathershaw.

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ANGRY residents have accused the council of squeezing money out of them following plans to charge for parking permits in a bid to cut costs.

A £15 per car proposal allowing residents to park outside their own homes has caused uproar among some householders who live close to Oldham Athletic's SportsDirect.com Park. Permits are currently free and were introduced to discourage motorists from causing traffic congestion, particularly on matchdays.

However, the council has now launched consultation ­- which runs until November 11 ­- as it bids to save over £20million in 2017/18.

In a letter to residents, the council states it is facing "continuous challenges" to deal with increases in costs and demands for services while facing reduced funding from the Government which has led the local authority to review the current situation regarding passes.

Residents feel it would be unfair to charge for a permit when they were brought in to protect home owners from rogue parking.

One area affected would be Furtherwood Road with parking made permit-only, after difficulties with drivers going to nearby Latics or the Royal Oldham Hospital.

Pensioner Keith Smith (66), of Furtherwood Road, said: "It is just another tax isn't it?

"Oldham Council is just using parking as a means of making money.

"The proposal is £15 now but what is to stop it from going up? It is just the start, it's like anything else and then it can go up and up.

"This 'tax' is because the council is not getting the money so it is just using parking.

"It's the way everything is going to be honest, we're just another pawn for making money out of. You just feel like you can't do anything about it and it is already decided."

Craig Dickinson, also of Furtherwood Road, said: "The council did a consultation in relation to parking about a year or two ago because of people parking to go to Latics games or the hospital.

"We did that and it ended up being permit parking which was good as it was a problem.

"But then we had a letter through to say that Oldham Council needs to make cuts and it is going to run a consultation on charging permit owners for the administrative fees.

"It will cost £15 per car to park outside your own home.

"It is just another way of making money out of us. You pay council tax and road tax as it is."

Aruna Wickramasinghe (42) said that if the fee was used to allocate a specific parking space outside of home owners' houses it would justify the permit charge.

He said: "I think they need allocated spaces for the houses and then it is OK to charge for the administration fee.

"I often find difficulty in finding a parking spot outside my house and sometimes I have to leave the car round the corner which means I can't see my car at night."

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, Cabinet member for finance and HR, said: "We must find savings worth more than £20 million next year as our funding from the Government continues to be cut.

"The production and enforcement of parking permits comes at a cost to the council. This consultation only proposes to cover these costs in a small annual renewal charge, not to charge additional monthly fees for permits as some councils choose to.

"However, we remind residents that these budget proposals are currently still under public consultation and we would appreciate people sharing their views with us as part of this process. All feedback will be considered as part of the consultation."

Once the consultation is finished a review of all the information will take place before it is finally considered at the council's budget meeting on March 1, 2017.

To participate in the consultation email parkingservices@oldham.gov.uk.