A Huddersfield shop owner is concerned about the future of his business inside the town centre after parking charges increased.
Paul Ellis, who runs Lost Property Coffee Shop and Kitchen on Byram Street, said the last couple of weeks since the charges increased have been the worst of the year so far. Charges have increased from £2 for 90 minutes, or the maximum stay, to £3,30 for 90 minutes.
In addition, a number of the ticket machines are out of order and tell people to use the app. During the day however, many customers are older and have been unable to do this.
Paul said: “We’ve had various customers complaining that it’s expensive, will the food be long because they don’t want to pay longer than 45 minutes for the parking.
“We’ve just noticed a really quite drastic drop in trade as well over the last couple of weeks. Also, I think the fact that the parking meters that are there are out of action at the minute because I think they’re putting new ones in.”
(Image: Paul Ellis)
As a result, Paul is increasingly concerned about what the future of his business could be with lower numbers of customers coming in, especially with the costs of operating a business so high at the moment. He added: “I think it’s just making it harder, it’s just bringing less and less people to town, which is the opposite of what we need.
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“Small businesses, if we haven’t got the people coming in then we’re all not going to be there are we?”
Paul is now considering offering to cover at least part of people’s parking charges to help attract more customers.
He added: “Going forward, if it doesn’t pick up, I don’t know, we’d have to think of moving out of the town centre or something like that. Which would be a shame, wouldn’t it?”
(Image: Paul Ellis)
For now, Paul is hoping business will recover and he will be able to stay, but with large overheads he is concerned for the future.
David Shepherd, Strategic Director for Growth & Regeneration at Kirklees Council, said: “Fee increases are not a decision we ever make lightly but parking charges had remained static for 14 years. We appreciate that car parking provision is an important factor in providing the local transport needs for retail, commuter, and visitor purposes, this is why we undertook a thorough consultation before implementing any changes.
“The new charges are consistent with other parking charges levied across the region, with both long and short-stay parking preserved. We are also keen for visitors to the town centre to use public transport and there is ongoing investment into those transport networks. We understand that there are many pressures on businesses and that business owners must make decisions based on their business needs.
“The increase has only been in effect for just over a week, including a Bank Holiday, and so we will continue to monitor the impact.”
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