Taking a hike on parking

Tony Blair may not agree, but one the best pieces of legislation his government introduced was the Freedom of Information Act. This allowed us to find out how much MP’s were fiddling on their expenses and we now know how much Rother District Council (RDC) is raking in from Battle’s car parks.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Dec 2012, 05:05 BST

For the year ended April 2012, RDC’s revenue from car parks in Battle increased by a whopping 38% to £341,000, and this compared to the relatively modest increase of only 5% from RDC’s other car parks in the Rother area. Digging into the detail we find the amount collected from “Notice to Pay” charges (e.g. for not having a valid parking ticket) has rocketed by 54% to £61,000.

So it’s clear, RDC is over taxing Battle’s residents, businesses and visitors who use and depend on the car parks, to protect its spending in other areas. In these fiscally challenging times we appreciate their budgetary predicament, but it’s not fair or right that vastly increasing amounts of money are levied from Battle in order to balance RDC’s books.

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If the situation wasn’t bad enough, these shocking figures don’t include the latest parking charge increases and we shudder to think what rises RDC are planning for next year ....one thing I can be certain of - RDC will get be getting more Freedom of Information requests on this issue !

Clive Bishop

Asten Fields, Battle

Related topics:Tony BlairBattle