Meeting called over impact of parking charges in Leighton Buzzard town centre

The purpose of an hour’s free parking would be to support local businesses, according to Independent Leighton Linslade West CBC councillor Victoria Harvey. She suggested similar experiments in other towns, such as Bedford, have proved successful.

A meeting involving herself, a CBC officer responsible for parking, and the Leighton Linslade North CBC councillor Nigel Carnell, who leads the Liberal Democrat group on Leighton-Linslade Town Council, is set for Tuesday, July 9.

A discussion about local parking fees and charges was held at a meeting of CBC’s Leighton-Linslade’s partnership committee on Thursday (June 20).

Independent Houghton Conquest and Haynes CBC councillor Rebecca Hares apologised on behalf of its ruling administration for a lack of detailed preparation around the topic, said councillor Harvey.

Councillor Hares attended the meeting to introduce the discussion on parking fees and charges, and to seek feedback from the committee before the issue is considered by CBC’s corporate resources overview and scrutiny committee, ahead of the next financial year.

Speaking after the meeting, councillor Harvey explained: “I was unhappy there was no free parking allocated in the town centre this year.

“LB First is advocating for an hour’s free parking to benefit the town’s traders. We need to attract the passing trade, which might otherwise visit the retail centre.

“We’re trying to establish what’s best for the town ahead of this September, when the proposals emerge for 2025/26. There’s general frustration and annoyance.

“We need to work together with councillors in Dunstable and Flitwick where there are similar parking issues and present a united approach.”

Councillor Harvey expects CBC to want any changes to the parking charges to keep the same level of profit for the local authority, and has been waiting to see how the May figures from the most recent charging strategy have affected the overall income.

“Grovebury Road retail park has free parking and so is real competition to our High Street,” she warned. “I think we need an hour’s free parking in the multi-storey car park, so that people can easily nip into the town centre shops and market.

“If they then want to stay longer, they can pay as they leave. It would also take some of the pressure off the crossing by Bridge Street, as many people take up free parking at Tesco and then cross the road there holding up the traffic.”