Council Car Parks

One of the worst things government does is to set a framework that they fundamentally change later. You know they are aware of the problems this causes. because they are careful never to do the same for things affecting themselves (or as in the expenses scandal, write laws to specifically exclude them). On car parks then, let us examine Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes is a planned town, its layout was considered right from the start, so the basic infrastructure is clearly defined, such as the grid roads and the roundabouts. A large. enclosed shopping centre was built and surrounded by copious, free parking. Milton Keynes was the city of the car, not least because it excluded tall buildings and so was quite extensive in spread. Free parking around a prestigious shopping centre meant that MK was attractive to all kinds of retailers and the reputation as a place to shop grew quickly. Even coaches from Suffolk brought carrot-crunchers to the sophisticated environs of this new town (city). The shops pay premium rates to the council, but know why and have the ability to pull in the punters to pay for it. Then, once established the council started salivating at the prospect of easy money (is there any other kind for government?) and introduced parking charges. And in the sort of socialism Gordon Brown would understand, they introduced bands of charges -red (most expensive) close to the shops, purple (less expensive) further away and green for the kindly-bestowed free spaces, furthest away. So, on a rainy day you can tell the rich inside the shopping mall; they are the ones who aren't wet.

The white lines of the bays were repainted (there is a legal defence if they are not obvious) and thick coloured lines painted along the front to denote the banding. Solar powered ticket machines are in place and a small army of uniforms appeared to 'enforce' these new rules (and hopefully plenty of fines). Now, there are about 16,000 spaces in Central Milton Keynes with 5,000 of those being 'free'. So if we estimate that the 'premium' and 'standard' are split 50/50 then we end up with 5500 of each. The official website says that parking charges are premium 30p per 15 minutes (I think it is slightly more, but we'll go with that) and standard, 30p per hour. Further, let's assume that the shops open at 9 and as parking charges cease at 6pm that gives 9 revenue hours per day. That means the potential income is £59400, premium and £14850, standard. Or a total of £74250 per day. For a car park you paid for. And don't forget; you don't buy the space for an hour (or whatever) you only buy the ticket entitling you. If you come back earlier than expected you cannot hand over your ticket to someone else to use up what has been paid for -they are 'non transferable'. So potentially, they can screw a bit more revenue out of 'their' spaces.(Personally, I not only love handing over a ticket to someone else, but I also love the etiquette that says you don't ask for payment. It not only sticks it to the council, but makes you feel superior, because you aren't a money-grubber like them). But this doesn't only apply to shops. No, the council attracted businesses to the centre of MK, plenty of them and then stuffed their employees with charges too. They can buy 'scratch cards' which I think are a pound a day, but originally you couldn't and with a maximum stay of 5 hours(!) you were treated to the spectacle of office workers pouring out to buy tickets and move their cars (otherwise you had 'overstayed'). Oh and if you park near the station, the free spaces are only available after 8:30am, so if you start work earlier than that -pay for a space.

So what do they do with the money? Well, they would tell you that your taxes would have had to have gone up without the car park charges, which you know is self serving cant. Some years back I saw a job advertised in the MK free paper (which I so wish now I'd kept) for a 'white line monitor'. I can't remember the exact title, but that was the gist of it -someone to check on car park lines. Mind you, the first thing the council did when introducing parking charges in the centre, was to build a new private car park for themselves. Free of course.

The details matter. A vibrant shopping centre is one where people window shop, stroll at leisure and perhaps stop to have coffee or a bite to eat. But with car park charges, you buy the time you think you need, hustle round and get out. The coffee shops miss out, because you didn't buy the time for it and the stores that might get impulse purchases, don't. It is not the business of government to leech off society, it is not their business to interfere and intrude. Rather they should assist and facilitate. But with super-salaries for 'Chief Executives' of councils, thousands of non-jobs to support and elegant offices to provide, you can be sure the self importance of government is assured and the thinking will always be that the servant is the master.

The thing is, there isn't a word to describe the people at councils who do these things to us. You might think 'moron' or 'imbecile' might fit, but that doesn't cover the spite and carelessness that is added to their stupidity. Maybe we should have a competition to come up with a word, or perhaps just invent one.