09/07/10 - Chris Kelly MP says no to new car parking charges at Albion Parade, Wall Heath

Chris Kelly MP has today visited traders on Albion Parade in Wall Heath and shares their outrage at the new parking charges introduced by the site& 39;s owners without any consultation or advance notice whatsoever.

Mr Kelly said: "Whilst I object to these new parking charges and the way they have been brought in, I cannot object outright to parking charges on privately owned property. What I can say, though, is that these parking charges are way out of line and are astronomical. No-one could object if the charges mirrored those at Council car parks in Kingswinford and elsewhere in the Borough but these new charges are far in excess of what the Council charges. I have contacted the owners of the site and Parking Control Services, who are managing the car park on behalf of the owners, asking them to urgently review these charges. I am also concerned to learn that the pay & display machines and signs have been erected without planning permission and have contacted Dudley Council to ask enforcement officers to act swiftly on this breach of planning.

"I am also disgusted to learn that a plain clothed PCS employee has been seen waiting in an unmarked vehicle for shoppers unaware of the new charging regime to leave their vehicles before slapping a £75 fine on their windscreens. This underhand behaviour is totally unacceptable and I utterly condemn it. How many families can afford to pay £75 out of their post-tax income for an innocent error such as parking on a car park, which they have always used, to support their local shops without realising that a new charging regime is in place? Answer: not many, especially in these straightened financial times. Albion Parade& 39;s owners and PCS need to think again and act accordingly."