Park life Santa Claus is coming to town! Our high street shops are already full of Christmas cards, decorations and gift ideas. But, asks Kelvin Reynolds, will there be anyone there to buy them and what place does parking have in ensuring town centre success? A few weeks ago, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, announced the government was expanding the High Streets Fund to support more than 100 towns to regenerate backed by 1bn of vital investment. This scheme is going to reenergise and transform even more of our high streets helping them to attract new businesses, boost local growth, and create new infrastructure and jobs, he said. You see, there really is a Santa Claus and hes coming to a town near you! According to the government, high streets lie at the heart of our communities and local economies, creating jobs, The spotlight is on our industry as people blame the cost of parking for being partly responsible for the slowdown of high street sales nurturing small businesses and injecting billions of pounds into our economy. However, the way we shop and the way that communities use their high streets is changing. Were buying more online, and making fewer big shopping trips. I recall when I was young, my mum went shopping every day to the corner shop, or the local butcher. Milk and bread were delivered daily to our door. Big supermarkets and chain stores put an end to all of that. The effect was the carving up of the local economy in favour of big national, and sometimes international, businesses. Planning laws encouraged out-of-town and edge-of-town retail malls and business parks, all with free parking. Turn in the spotlight The spotlight is on our industry, as people blame the cost of parking for being partly responsible for the slowdown of high street sales. Local authority parking accounts come under scrutiny every year, and while figures quoted provide a sensational headline, they dont tell the true story of local authorities parking management. A councils parking income comes from a variety of places, including fees and charges for using car parks, on-street parking and residentparking schemes. Income from penalty charges is also included in a councils published figures. More cars on our roads and a greater demand for parking to be managed inevitably leads to more income being generated. Why is it wrong for our local authorities and their parking management If you are going to give away your parking, at a time when demand is at its highest, then it still needs managing, and that has a cost 46 britishparking.co.uk PN Oct19 pp46-47 Kelvin.indd 46 23/09/2019 14:09