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.