I recently submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Cheshire East Council to find out how many parking tickets had been issued in Wilmslow during the last financial year, April 2009 to March 2010, and the amount of money generated from them.
The figures supplied to me by Cheshire East Council reveal they issued 5204 parking tickets in the last financial year which raised £132,118.51. These figures represented a significant drop from the previous year when 6914 tickets were issued, generating £208,550 from May 2008 to March 2009. Which raises the question of whether this is due to a better provision for parking in Wilmslow or less traffic wardens patrolling in the town?
Councillor Frank Keegan said "I presume the level of fines has dropped because the public are being more aware of the activities of the wardens and are taking more care. 2008/2009 was the start of civil enforcement (wardens issuing tickets) and therefore I suspect people were not being as careful as they now are."
Cheshire East took over responsibility for issuing parking tickets in May 2008 so the figures above include no fines for April 2008.
My Freedom of Information request extended to cover Alderley Edge where 2684 parking tickets were issued last financial year, generating £80,520. Unlike in Wilmslow though, these figures represent very little change from the previous financial year, May 2008 to March 2009, when 2619 tickets were issued in Alderley Edge, raising £78,790.
Council Keegan added "Most of the income came from on street fines, which gets used only in Highways Improvements. The off street fines, from car parks, can be used for car park improvements, so to the extent that we have fines off street you can see that in some cases that saves us having to spend the money from our budgets and so helps keep Council Tax down."
Last month we reported on alderleyedge.com that Heather Weinholt has written to Alderley Edge Parish Council and Rob Cramer, Area Traffic Engineer at Cheshire East Council, on behalf of village traders to request a full review of the parking restrictions in the village. Explaining how the parking restrictions in Alderley Edge affect local businesses, Heather said "Since the council have taken on regulating the parking in the area the shopkeepers have become very dissatisfied with the current parking restrictions.
"Each person who comes to the village and cannot park is a customer lost for one or more of us. Each person who gets a ticket is another customer who will think twice about coming to the village, another customer lost. A couple of miles up the road is Handforth Dean where parking is ample and free and without persecution, they will go there instead."
Commenting on this article David Barraclough said "I write in support of the general views of Heather Wienholt and others over the parking problems in the village and to suggest that another aspect strongly needs to be included in the discussion, namely the attitude and 'zero tolerance' approach being taken by the parking wardens."
Other local residents however feel there should be more stringent enforcement of illegal parking. Vin Summer said "Too many people park illegally and dangerously in Alderley, and while it is important that there are clear signs ... it is time there was more not less enforcement."
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