Northampton Town Council asks West Northants Council to reconsider its parking charges

At a specially convened Council meeting, Northampton Town Council unanimously agreed to ask West Northants Council (WNC) to reconsider their proposal to introduce a charge for those wishing to park in the town on a Sunday.

The Town Council welcomed WNC's decision to retain 2 hours free on a Saturday but have stated that now was not the time to introduce a Sunday charge. The Town Council also highlighted that it is free to park in the other three major towns in west Northamptonshire, namely Daventry, Brackley and Towcester putting Northampton at a disadvantage. Consequently, Northampton Town Council have asked that WNC look at harmonising parking charges across the authority.

Cllr Jane Birch who proposed the motion stated "Introducing a parking charge on a Sunday when the town is still feeling the economic effects of the pandemic, and about to embark on major works on the Market Square and Abington Street is counterproductive and will severely impact town centre businesses. Both the Northampton BiD and local retailers have told us what impact these new charges could have on their businesses and rather than introducing parking charges, we should work together on making Northampton even more attractive to shoppers and tourists".

The Town Council has written to West Northants Council asking them to reconsider the Sunday charge, request that they look at harmonising the parking charges across the WNC area and also consider some free Saturday parking in Northampton to coincide with some of the events in the town centre.