At today’s Enterprise, Planning & Infrastructure Committee, Labour opposed a Liberal Democrat motion to scrap Sunday parking charges. The motion by Cllr Jennifer Stewart sought to address parking issues for church goers and to increase accessibility for people wishing to visit the City Centre.

In support of the motion, Councillor Steve Delaney, who represents the Kingswells/Sheddocksley Ward, emphasised the need to be encouraging people into the city centre on Sundays to boost local businesses. He referred to the poor bus services on Sundays and the cost of travel being prohibitive, especially to families.

He said, “Sunday trading started many years ago, firstly over the festive period, but is now a feature of everyday life. Unfortunately bus operators continue to run the same poor Sunday services as they did two decades ago”.

“The result is that bus fares and frequencies make it unviable for Sunday shoppers to venture into town by bus and parking charges just add insult to injury. I believe more people would come into town and local shops would benefit greatly from free Sunday parking”.

A compromise position of charging a flat rate or £1 or £2 for the day was suggested in an attempt to reach consensus, but this failed to gain support.

Mr Delaney said “We really need to be backing local people and backing local businesses by making it easier for families to visit the city centre on Sundays. I believe this represents a lost opportunity”.

Only the Liberal Democrat members supported the scrapping of parking charges.