Fact-Check – Wharf Road Parking Charges

Fact-Check

Political leaflets and social media posts are not subject to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) requirements that adverts are legal, decent, honest and truthful.

But you can check out the Facts here.

If you get any leaflets with statements or allegations you doubt, send them over and I will gladly Fact-Check them for you.

FACT-CHECK SUMMARY

Claim 1: Liberal Democrat activists objected “at every stage” to new car parking charges at Wharf Road car park, and “sadly your local Tory Councillors did not do the same.”

Fact-Check 1: It’s true that the Lib Dems objected to this change. But it’s not accurate to suggest that local Tory (Conservative) Councillors did nothing. Councillors Paul Deach and Stuart Black engaged with both residents and businesses. They influenced the Council to CHANGE the proposals to provide a one hour FREE period. And they formed their own views on the merits of the revised proposals.

Claim 2: “the new parking charge at Wharf Road car park … have pushed parking problems onto nearby streets and the Doctors’ Surgery car park”.

Fact-Check 2: Parking at the Doctors has become more difficult, but the work to extend the surgery has put pressure on parking. Spaces are taken up by the contractors’ vehicles, plus 6 spaces to accomodate the contractors’ portakabin. 

A review of the situation again once the surgery work is completed will allow more accurate conclusions.

WHAT WE ARE FACT CHECKING

This is fact-checking a leaflet delivered in October 2022.

A section claims:

“the new parking charges at Wharf Road car park … have pushed parking problems onto nearby streets and the Doctors’ Surgery car park.

We objected at every stage. We canvassed local businesses, spoke out at the Frimley Green, Mytchett and Deepcut Resident Society, and spoke in objection at multiple council meetings.

Sadly your local Tory Councillors did not do the same.”

The Facts

The decision-making process

When the initial paper was published, both your local Conservative Councillors, Paul Deach and Stuart Black, had serious concerns about the proposals. It was proposed there would be NO free parking, which we both felt was a mistake and would push parking to local streets.

Far from doing nothing, Paul Deach created an online survey which attracted over 600 responses.

Stuart Black copied the paper to all of the 14 businesses within the immediate vicinity of the car park, with a link to the survey.

The survey gave a range of views; there was some resistance from residents sharing our initial concerns, but also a significant body of opinion that recognised that the car park did not work well as a residents’ car park. It was often full.

Stuart also had a meeting with the SHBC Chief Executive and Parking Manager, who explained that they believed the Wharf Road car park did not function very well as a car park. They felt it would benefit from a change from the “free parking all day” situation, as had car parks in Frimley and Chobham with similar problems in the past.

Through discussion with the Conservative Group, Stuart and Paul secured changes to the proposals, and a revised paper was issued which proposed an hour free parking. This was then approved by the Council Executive.

A Lib Dem Councillor used their right to call the decision into the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Committee.

At this meeting, I explained I shared the concerns about the risk of dislocation of parking to residential streets. I also acknowledged that the changes proposed were not universally popular amongst the businesses I had canvassed.

However I also felt the need to balance my judgement with the fact that this car park has not functioned well as a car park for residents for many years. A car park works when you can drive into it looking for a space and get a space. This car park didn’t work. This created more congestion as residents then look elsewhere for a space, the commensurate impact on the environment, and the inevitability that residents park elsewhere. 

So we faced a decision either to continue to ignore the fact that this car park doesn’t function, as had been the case for most of the 20 years I have been living in Frimley Green, or we decide to do something about it.

Do nothing would mean we continue with a policy that financially subsidises people driving to Frimley Green and parking all day. Is that really what we really wanted? Or would we rather adopt a policy that ‘nudges’ behaviour in a different direction? 

I accepted that there was uncertainty and concern about the impact on residential streets of such a change, particularly in the short-term; we will not know the exact impact until we make the change; the only certainty was that if we didn’t make a change, we guaranteed that the car park continues not to work for residents.

The Executive upheld their decision, and the new charges were intoduced in June 2022.

The impact of the changes

There are different views on this. I was closely monitoring the situation around the date of the change, and although it was not a scientific survey, I did not notice a material change in the amount of street parking after the change. I did notice a significant drop in the number of cars parked in the Car Park, and this has continued to be the case, so we can conclude that either the previous car park users are no longer driving to Frimley Green daily, or they are parking elsewhere.

Parking at the Doctors has become more difficult, but parking at the Doctors has come under pressure as a result of the work to extend the surgery. Spaces are taken up by the contractors’ vehicles, plus 6 spaces to accomodate the portakabin.

I’ve been in contact with the GP practice on the issue of parking. The Senior Partner at the GP surgery is of the view that the current situation is not representative of the long-term. I agree, and think it is best to review the situation with the Council’s parking team once the extension work is complete.

Many residents who I speak to welcome the fact they can park when they need to.

The jury is still out on the change. I would not rule out reversing the change, but we know what the effect of that would be and we should carefully think through the options before deciding we want to go back to the previous situation.

Stuart Black, December 2022

 

 

Stuart Black, September 2022.