Residents made a last ditch attempt to halt a big increase in residential parking permits.

One resident told a meeting of Kirklees Council’s Cabinet that increasing the charge from £15 for a ‘lifetime’ permit to £35 a year would amount to a “breach of contract.”

Another man, who lives in a permit parking zone close to the John Smith’s Stadium, said residents were being “punished” because of where they lived and accused the council of “petty penny pinching.”

Amanda Gray, who lives in Greenhead, told the Huddersfield Town Hall meeting that she considered the changes a “breach of contract.”

She said her permit was £15 for as long as she owned her car or lived at the same address and the council couldn’t just change the terms and conditions.

She said that as permit charges hadn’t increased in 10 years that amounted to “custom and practice.”

Ms Gray (pictured above) said the council had a database of people so they could introduce a “new parking tax just because you need the money.”

She brought laughter and applause to the council chamber when she joked about how the council could introduce a new £2,000 permit for errant driving instructors who blocked her street while teaching their students how to “park extremely slowly.”

She added: “If you ask them politely to move on you get a mouthful of abuse so now they are teaching their students road rage and bad behaviour, as well as teaching them that parking in a permit zone when you don’t have a permit is perfectly okay, which it is not.

“So perhaps you might want to make a Kirklees-wide permit for driving instructors – of maybe a couple of thousand pounds – so you can then invest that in parking permits for carers!”

 

Riley Lane car park in Kirkburton

 

Jamie Ellison, chairman of the Town estate and Springbank estate tenants and residents’ association near the stadium, said residents were being asked to pay for permits that didn’t guarantee a parking space.

The permits were only needed because of the stadium and there were only problems on match days or when there was a concert.

Some residents wanted permits scrapping to make a “free for all” while others might be prepared to pay if they could ‘sell’ their space to football fans on match days!

Mr Ellison said people were struggling financially and residents were being “punished.”

He added: “It’s petty penny-pinching by the council.”

Clr Munir Ahmed, Cabinet member for environment and highways, said the council was aware of the issues near the stadium and council officers were looking at what could be done.

The Cabinet over-ruled the objections and voted to approve the increases in permit charges. Visitor permits will rise from £15 a year to £60 a year.

The Cabinet also agreed a new package of parking charges for car parks in smaller towns and villages.

Most will remain free but in 15 others the first two hours will be free before charges kick in.

The 15 car parks are:

Meltham – Carlile Street

Holmfirth – Huddersfield Road – Sands

Marsden – Standedge

Slaithwaite – New Street

Mirfield – Station Road

Batley – Field Lane, Henrietta Street, Market Place, New Way, Station Road, Wards Hill

Birstall – High Street

Cleckheaton – Crown Street, St John’s Road/Bradford Road, Town Hall rear (Church St).

 

 

Clr Ahmed (above) said: “Thousands of local residents responded to public consultations on both parking proposals. In light of this feedback, one of our first decisions as a new Cabinet was to pause the initial proposals and conduct a thorough review.

“Parking charges have remained static for the last 14 years. Unfortunately, the current financial climate means the council is no longer able to sustain the price freeze.

“But we’ve listened to concerns and we think the new plans are proportionate and fairer for residents and businesses.

“The proposed introduction of parking fees and increases to residential permits are not decisions we take lightly and it’s important we balance the financial needs of the council whilst taking into consideration local views.”

Kirklees Council has to save £30 million this year and the new parking charges and permit increases could raise over £400,000.

 

Furious exchanges as Kirklees Council’s Cabinet looks to ‘privatise’ its two dementia care homes