KCC hits out at car parking charge hikes
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Kent county council has waded
into a row over a steep rise in car parking charges at rail
stations.
The increases, introduced this week,
come on top of an average 6% hike in rail fares this year.
The move sees the daily charge at
Ashford International going up from £5.50 to £6.00.
It also means there are six
Southeastern car parks – Hildenborough, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge,
Dartford and two at Sevenoaks – where it costs more than £1,000 a
year to park.
Most expensive is Sevenoaks, which now
costs £1,345 a year – an increase of £92.50 – to park next to the
station.
Two stations break the £1,000 barrier
for the first time – Tunbridge Wells premier parking (£1,120 up
from £933.50) and Hildenborough (£1,026 up from £992).
Tonbridge (£1,128.50,) Sevenoaks'
mixed use car park (£1,175) and Dartford (£1,072) stay the
same.
Bryan Sweetland, Cabinet member for
environment, highways and waste, said: "These increases are totally
unacceptable, coming right on top of January’s average rise of 6%
in rail fares.
"A fairer approach would have been to
keep the rise in car park charges in line with fare rises, at RPI
+1%.
Some of these new charges represent
increases of up to 30%, which is unfair for commuters who have no
alternative but to park at their local station.
"We shall be raising this issue with
Southeastern Railway, who are responsible for setting parking
charges at their stations."
But SouthEastern says more than a third of its sites will
see no increase to the tariff or it will be reduced.
Thursday, January 12 2012
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