When I was reading The Comet this week I saw that some car parks in Hitchin have seen a sharp drop in usage since the

new higher tariffs were introduced. 

Some tariffs, like the Lairage multi-storey in Hitchin, almost

doubled with one hour rising from 60p to £1 and two hours rising to £1.50 from

80p.  I find it no surprise that this is

one of the car parks with the largest decrease in ticket sales at nearly 20%.  Also effected were Christchurch car park where

ticket sales decreased by 19.4% and Biggin Lane which saw a 17.5% drop. 

Does this mean that less people are visiting Hitchin or are

they just finding different places to park, perhaps in some of the privately

owned car parks?  What impact will this

have on local shops that rely on the footfall from people coming from and

returning to their cars? 

It may sound like a small issue but, like everything else,

this might just be the start.  With the

council announcing that despite the decrease of usage, they still made a larger

profit in 2010 than in 2009 with £650,743 being taken in Hitchin between April

and November 2010 as opposed to £515,944 the year before.  What is the message our Council will take

from these figures? Will it be, as I suspect, that the tariff rise was a huge success

because they made more money, leading them to think it is a good idea to put

them up again?  Or will they think long

term, and about the wider community, concluding that these ticket rises were

too much too quickly and have actually put people off using the central car

parks? 

Everyone expects rises in rates and tariffs, but you don’t

expect something to almost double over night. 

 

I don’t not live close enough to the centre to be effected

personally, but I wonder if residents close to the centre have noticed a rise

in people parking on nearby streets and walking into town as a consequence of

these rises? 

If you have anything to say, please comment as I would be

really interested to see what other people’s opinions are.