Parking fees are 'insult' to city residents - MP

New parking charges in Bradford have been described by an MP as "an insult to hardworking people".

A £35 annual fee for residents’ parking permits was brought in earlier this month as part of a series of changes to parking fees which Bradford Council said would help raise £2.7m over the next two and half years.

Several petitions calling for the fees to be scrapped have since been launched, one of which was presented to Parliament on Tuesday by Robbie Moore, Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley, who described the charges as "extortionate".

Susan Hinchcliffe, Labour leader of Bradford Council, said: "These are difficult but balanced choices we have to make all the time."

In Parliament, MPs can present petitions to seek a formal government response, helping to raise the profile of local issues on a national level.

The petition presented by Moore aimed to urge the government to call on Bradford Council to reverse its decision on the new parking charges.

Across Bradford, about 14,000 resident and visitor permits are issued, bringing in about £500,000 a year.

Moore told the House of Commons: "We are now hearing stories of local shops losing nearly half their footfall, and residents being forced to pay just to park outside their own homes.

"These extortionate charges are an insult to hardworking people who are being asked to pay the price of a litany of failures by Bradford Council's current leadership."

Bradford Council's leaders had "chosen to charge residents to park where they live, where they work and where they shop", he said.

"I certainly won't stay silent while families and local businesses pay the price, which is exactly why I have now brought this issue to the national stage.

"It's clear Bradford Council leaders are failing local residents and need to urgently rethink these proposals."

Responding to Moore's comments, Hinchcliffe said: “Parking is not free. There’s always maintenance of car parks councils have to pay for.

"But if you provide that for free, then you have to charge or cut something elsewhere. So these are difficult but balanced choices we have to make all the time."

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