Discount car parking on offer (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Discount car parking on offer

COMMUTERS who come into Salisbury from the southern stretch of the A36 will be able to apply for cheaper parking season tickets - because they are not served by a park-and-ride.

Following the opening of the Britford park-and-ride site, city centre parking was hiked to £5 a day, with the price of an annual s eason ticket rising 30 per cent, from £730 to £950.

The council hopes the increases will encourage people who travel on most major routes into the city to use the cheaper park-and-ride sites at Wilton, the Beehive and Britford, and says commuters who use the A30, London Road, will be served by the fourth site when it opens next year.

However, the proposed Petersfinger park-and-ride is unlikely to be finished until April 2008, leaving motorists who use the A36 and enter Salisbury via the Southampton road with no alternative to costly city centre parking.

Councillor John Collier told a council cabinet meeting on Wednesday last week: "People who live off the A36 have a right to feel a bit aggrieved that they are effectively subsidising park-and-ride and not getting any of its benefits.

"This gives us an opportunity to restore the balance."

The 243 spaces in the top two levels of Culver Street car park will be designated for people commuting from the south-east of Salisbury.

Car owners in certain postcode areas up to 40 miles away, who work in Salisbury for at least three days a week, will be able to apply for a discounted permit, costing £650 a year, if they can provide proof of address, car ownership documentation and details of their employer.

However, some councillors expressed concern that the scheme would be complicated to operate, and it could be difficult to set the boundaries to determine who would benefit from the discounted tickets, as there was no indication of how high demand would be.

John Cole-Morgan said: "This is micromanagement and very complex."

Don Culver added: "What happens to the 244th person to get their application in?

"There is a danger this could be over-subscribed."

But environment and transport portfolio holder Dennis Brown said the temporary scheme would make the system "fairer" and commuters from the Southampton direction would enjoy a similar discount to park-and-ride users.

A member of council staff will be allocated to administer the scheme and parking ambassadors will ensure the new rules are enforced.