Reporter James Vukmirovic chats to the traders of Dudley about the effect recent parking charges are having on the footfall in the town centre.
Reporter James Vukmirovic chats to the traders of Dudley about the effect recent parking charges are having on the footfall in the town centre.
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00:00Hello, I'm James McRimmovich and I'm here at Tower Street Car Park in Dudley to talk
00:05about something that's a bone of contention for business owners and
00:07residents all around Dudley... car parking charges!
00:14It's a topic that's become a bone of contention for people using the town
00:19either as business owners or shoppers because up until the beginning of this
00:23month two hours of car parking in any Dudley Council car park was free and now
00:27it's £1.80 for up to an hour, £2.50 for up to two hours, up to three
00:34hours is £3 and up to four hours is £4 with a maximum stay of four
00:38hours. I've just paid the £2.50 for two hours and that's okay with me
00:43because I'm here as a one-off but for people who are going to use the town
00:46quite regularly they're not very happy about it. We've heard from business
00:49owners previously who've said that they think it will kill the high street so
00:52we're here today to speak to people, business owners, shoppers, anybody who's
00:56in the town centre who will talk to us and say what they think about it.
00:59Well looking at all the other areas and all the other towns with free car
01:03parking I think it's going to be a thorn in the side of everybody that comes into
01:08this town to be honest and truthfully with you. What do you think the biggest issues are
01:11going to be? Is it just that people are spending more money? No, it's the
01:14cost. When you're paying £2.50 for two hours to car park on here or if you want
01:20to park here for all day £6, those people are not going to pay that kind of
01:23money. And it happened at the beginning of this month, have you noticed a
01:26difference since? Yes. How so? More takings of 50% down. Oh wow.
01:34When first it came in on the 1st, people didn't realise then they
01:40were still coming because they went to the car parks and still thinking it was
01:43free but then when they knew they got to pay there was quite a few of them that
01:47come up to me especially my customers saying it'll be the last time you see me.
01:51Do you understand why the council did it? Or are you still sort of scratching your head about it?
01:54Right, in one instance maybe yes because they want to bring revenue back in to do
02:00improvements and whatever to their car parks as they've said but in another
02:04instance no because when I step back and watch them and this is only one
02:09instance in that council that has lost £35,000 worth of IT equipment and
02:14they don't know where it is, that tells me something. Well hang on a minute here
02:19what's going on? And I'm guessing the theme right now is feelings of
02:23disappointment, anger, frustration? Yeah definitely it's kind of that we need we
02:29need a compromise really that you can't carry on like this. The footfalls down
02:35well the footfall was down anyway because we've got no end date of the
02:40bus station being completed, we've got no end date of the trams lines being
02:43finished. They keep pushing it forward and forward and forward. It doesn't seem
02:48to me like it's ever going to be finished then it takes more money then
02:51we haven't got the money. So then what we do is we put loads of roadworks around
02:55the system so then we take half the car parks off as well. So then customers
03:00think to themselves well hang on a minute what's going on here we can't get
03:02to the town hardly. So let's say a 10-minute drive in is taking 20-25
03:07minutes to get in there. Then what do we do? Okay we want to park my car and then
03:12I've got to pay £2.50 to park my car for two hours. I think it's disgusting. I mean
03:18we have got many people coming up the town anyway so you know to put car
03:23parking charges it's going to kill the town. How much of an impact do you think there's
03:27been since they came in? Oh yeah we've seen the difference in these two days so
03:32see we do open on a Monday so the two days very quiet. What's been the sort of
03:38general feeling around from other traders that you've spoken to? I haven't really spoken to any other
03:43traders but some of the customers have said before the car park charges that
03:47they will be coming up here. This is that much of an impact then because if you think about £2.50
03:52for say one visit doesn't seem like a lot but then you realise it adds up. Yeah but some customers say
03:57no they only come up for 10 or 15 minutes to a few shops and that's it. And what do you
04:03think in terms of the plan coming in do you still understand why Dudley Council
04:06did it or do you think there could have been other ways to raise the money? Other ways, yeah other ways
04:10but definitely. Well it's just sort of a nail in the coffin really I mean you
04:15know in Dudley it's so quiet at the moment and we're fighting all the way. I
04:20mean Plaza Mall specialises in bringing the small retailer back to the high
04:25street and it's like you know I know they need money but they need to get it
04:32from central government because to take it from the average spend that people
04:40which is probably about 40 quid a week they've got spare to spend and they're
04:45going to take half of that in charges in car park charges. And you think initially
04:49that £2.50 for two hours doesn't seem like a lot but then you realise it
04:52racks up. Well when you soon you know you've got time to come in have a drink
04:57and you've got to go haven't you. We've got to give people a chance if you go to
05:00Meriel it's free parking. And what have you noticed at Plaza Mall so far in
05:05terms about the impact? Well the footfall was already at critical we're
05:10now past critical and we're pumping money into Plaza Mall to keep it on the
05:16high street. Now we help all our tenants out as much as we can but you can only
05:21go so far you know we've got people stealing toilet rolls in Dudley that's
05:26how desperate people are and we've just got to try and keep it going we're here
05:31for the future we've had a lovely shop front done by Dudley Council which is
05:35great we just gotta get the footfall up. And do you think that more could have
05:40been done for Dudley Council in terms of consultation things like that about it?
05:44Well of course they're in power to rule aren't they but you know they've got to
05:51think carefully about these car park charges because it's a lifeline for all
05:55the retailers in Dudley you know they're not all big retailers that have got
06:00other shops supporting them they're all small retailers that rely on every penny
06:06coming through that door and you know to take the car parking away has been a big
06:12mistake.