PEOPLE in Wiltshire are being asked for their views on free first hour parking across the county but none is proposed in changes outlined in a far reaching review unveiled by Wiltshire Council this week.

Chippenham Area Board chairman Linda Packard said: “The free parking for an hour is the thing most people want but it is not included in listed proposed changes. This is a big disappointment.”

Chippenham MP Duncan Hames is also unhappy that despite a 3,000-name petition no provision had been made for the free parking.

He said: “This really needs to be addressed. It would make a big difference to the town.”

The Wiltshire Council review of car parking in the county says free parking will only happen if the public accept radical changes to the way they pay for parking and cuts to other services.

The report says: “We need to explore options about how we would cover any funding gap.”

Among the questions asked is if other services, such as local buses, should be removed to pay for free first hour parking.

Wiltshire Council deputy leader John Thomson said: “People keep going on about free parking but the bigger problem in a town such as Chippenham is actually a lack of parking.”

Both he and Liberal Democrats on the council want a move to cashless parking but have different views about how it should work.

Coun Thomson wants people to use smart phones to pay but Liberal Democrat leader on the council John Hubbard favours a card, similar to a London Oyster card, which could be swiped by users.

In Devizes town councillor Nigel Carter is pleased that there are no plans to change the half hour free parking in the Market Place.

His ruling Devizes Guardians group on the council wants Wiltshire to bring in residents’ parking permits to stop motorists parking for free in residential roads close to the centre.

The proposed changes in the review include plans to switch a number of long-stay car parks to short stay and for the price to rise.

Some car parks, such as Couch Lane, Devizes, are allocated as being submitted to property asset review which means they are likely to be sold off.

In Devizes the council wants to make the Central, Sainsbury’s and Northgate car parks short stay only, capping the stay at three hours. The price for one hour in Central car park would go up from 55p to 70p and in the other two from 55p to 60p.

In Chippenham the council proposes to raise an hour’s parking at Bath Road from 80p to £1. At Sadlers Mead the one, two and three-hour rates remain the same but longer stays will rise by up to 50p.

At Borough Parade motorists will only be able to park for two hours instead of three. At the moment motorists can park for a day for £5.90 but this would rise to £7.50.

In Marlborough the 24-space car park at Savernake Hospital is earmarked for being leased or managed to or by a third party, marketing for sale or use by another council service.

The proposed parking changes

  • In the town centre the Hilliers Yard and Polly Lane car parks would move from long stay to short stay only allowing cars to park for up to three hours and the cost of the first hour would go up from 55p to 60p.
  • At George Lane an hour rises from 55p to 60p and the maximum stay is capped at five hours. High Street parking charges would stay the same.
  • In Royal Wootton Bassett the council proposes to make Borough Fields a short stay car park with a cap of three hours, instead of 24. It also proposes making the 30-space Wood Street car park permit only.
  • In Malmesbury there are no proposed changes at Station Rad but at Cross Hayes an hour and two hours will go up from 40p to 50p and £1.20 to £1.30.
  • In Calne the cost of parking for one hour in badly used Church Street car park, which the council says is at most only ever 30 per cent full, remains at 30p but the price drops from £1.10 to 80p for two hours and from £2 to £1.50 for three hours. The day rate moves from £5.60 to £4.50.
  • In Corsham High Street, where peak demand exceeds capacity by more than a third, the one-hour rate will go up by 10p and the maximum stay will be capped at three hours. At Post Office Lane the all- day option will be scrapped but the eight-hour price drops from £5.60 to £5.20.