Drivers in Milton Keynes could face a new ‘parking tax’ if Labour retain control of MK Council on 3rd May.
Conservative councillors opposed the permit charge from the start and the party has pledged to scrap all resident parking permit charges if they take control of the council on 3rd May.
The MK Conservatives said their manifesto states: “We will provide communities with free parking permit schemes; instead of punishing car owners we will work with them.” However, the Conservatives say the Labour manifesto makes no equivalent commitment, posing the threat that the existing scheme could be extended into other parts of the city.
Conservative group leader, Cllr Alex Walker, said: “Conservatives have a clear commitment to axe the parking tax, but Labour’s manifesto is suspiciously silent on this point. Now we have to wonder just which areas of MK they will target next. It’s time for change in Milton Keynes, and one of the first things we’ll do is deliver free parking permits to residents.”
Conservative candidate for Loughton & Shenley, Dan Gilbert, added: "The parking tax imposed on Loughton is unfair and needs to be scrapped. We clearly need parking controls so close to the train station but residents are fed up with the way they have been made to pay the price.”
The MK Conservatives manifesto pledges to:
• Axe the parking tax by providing communities with free parking permit schemes
• Repair an extra 8,000 potholes in 6 months on top of existing council plans
• Deliver more CMK parking spaces and more lower-rate ‘purple’ parking bays
• Look at ‘pay on exit’ in CMK to reduce the risk of over-paying for parking
Labour responded with leader Peter Marland telling MKFM “This idea of a “parking tax” is literally rubbish. I can’t put it any more plainly than saying it is an outright lie. It will not happen. It is for residents to decide, via a local vote, if they want to introduce a residents parking scheme. Labour has no plans to impose new schemes on anyone, ever.
''A charge for the existing Residents Only Parking Schemes was introduced a few years ago. It was a difficult decision, but it’s the result of having to find ways to plug £144m in cuts forced on MK Council by the Tories.
I think the bigger question, after yet another spending commitment from MK Tories, is where they will find the £30m in additional cuts MK Council needs to make over the next few years. At the MKFM debate last night Cllr Walker refused to answer that question, so people need to ask, where will cuts come from to pay for this?”
