Chester Conservatives have delivered a petition to Cheshire West & Chester Council to keep Free After 3 parking in Chester.

You can read the contents of the letter below. Fill in your details on the left of the letter to keep up-to-date on this campaign.

Dear Cllr Dixon,

Re. Have your say about the proposed parking strategy for the borough - consultation closing on Friday 24 February 2017

Further to the above, I enclose information collected via a public petition and survey exercise conducted by the City of Chester Conservative Association in the weeks leading to the end of this consultation process. As it is not possible to address the retention of the 'Free After 3pm' parking scheme directly within the questionnaire, although the 'negative' impact of the existing arrangements are noted, please consider this correspondence under 'Issue 12 - Initiatives to support local businesses.'

In simple terms we invited residents to confirm whether they agree with the following statement:

I urge Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council to retain the popular ‘Free After 3’ parking option in Chester in their overall parking strategy.

You will note there has been a strong degree of interest from members of the public in response to this campaign, with those agreeing numbering: 

-        410 responses electronically to our online petition, the details of which are attached, and;

-        563 responses in paper to the same question, the details of which are attached.

We intend to inform residents that their views have been passed on to the Council as part of this consultation exercise and strongly urge that this significant show of public opinion is taken into account when determining the final strategy for the Borough, and the city of Chester in particular, going forward.  

Conservative Borough Councillors in Chester are unanimous in their opinion that 'Free After 3pm' parking should be maintained for the following reasons:

1.      It is simple and easy to understand - "Free After 3" is just that;

2.      Local businesses, who need our support in an age of online shopping, fear the abolition of the scheme will see a drop in footfall and damage their trade;

3.      It encourages people to enter the city just when it starts to become quiet, giving a boost to shops and restaurants, many of whom rely on the 'night-time' economy;

4.      With the imminent opening of 'Storyhouse' we should be doing all we can to encourage that 'night-time economy' to help keep our city centre vibrant and busy; and

5.      With council tax looking set to rise for the second year in a row, many fear this is yet another opportunity for the Council to 'revenue raise' from hard pressed local taxpayers.

It is clear that this is a widely held view and should be taken into account.

Yours faithfully

Cllr. Margaret Parker (Chester Villages)

On behalf of the City of Chester Conservative Association and Conservative Councillors within the City of Chester