Rutland County Council Parking Surplus

It was interesting to read on the BBC news website about the surpluses made by councils on car parking in our cities and towns around the country. In the year 2011 to 2012 across the country made a total of £565 million, so I thought I would see how Rutland as a whole did compared to the rest of the councils.

It turned out to be a good news story for a change and out of the 359 councils the country came out as a respectable 268th. Over the 2011 to 2012  Rutland County Council made £138,000 out of a approximate population of 37,300 people that live in the county. A increase of of just over 10 percent from the year before according to a recent RAC foundation report. It would be interesting  to know how this money is reinvested into the community and what proportion is used in transport spending or whatever, but I guess that would be impossible to get hold of such information from the council.

What would be nice to see, especially in Oakham and the car parks near the town center is free parking up to an hour or maybe two hours and then charges for longer stays. This might bring more people into the town and onto the high street. This is going to be important as more Supermarkets move into the area and threaten the existence of the small shops and family run business that have made Oakham the place it is over the years. It would be horrible to think of Oakham becoming full of just charity shops, fast food restaurant, coffee shops and estate agents.

It is going to vital in the next few years to protect the High Streets of the two towns in the area if we are going to protect the qualities that make Rutland the place it is and avoid the shop closures we have seen in the past. A list of current charges are available on the Rutland County Council website for 2013 if you are thinking of visiting the towns.