“I have always been able to find a space to park when visiting the shops in Montpellier, although they would be few and far between and maybe it would take a little while to find one. If there are that keen on seeing more turnover of cars could they not install meters which give tickets for say up to 2 hours free. This could work if people are able to type in their car number plate so there is a record and they cant come back after. If the county council were being genuine they would have investigated this but they are finding more ways to charge us for more things so they can 'keep council tax low' which is far from taxing us less!”

“The elephant in the room here is commuter parking.If all available parking spaces are snapped up first thing, then it doesn't matter how much the shoppers are able or willing to pay - they ain't gonna be parking.
And 20 pence is hardly going to break the bank. It's £1.30 everywhere else in town, for the minimum stay.”

“raidermanuk - following recognized organisational theory in management science - the primary objective/motivation of any organisation to to survive/keep going - all others - profit, public service, etc, are subservient to that.”

“The introduction of on street charges in and around Montpellier is extraordinarily short sighted. It's bad enough that town centre parking is so expensive at a time when the high street is struggling against the internet and out of town competition. There's next to no-one using these new meters so there's less people visiting the shops / cafes. the people who used to park here didn't just use Montpellier.

We need to be encouraged to use the town centre. I was in Broadway last Friday and they were experimenting with 4 hours parking for 20p! Needless to say there were plenty of people about.
Cheltenham appears to be coping better than most with the recession but could do with more enlightened thinking than this.

Go for it Mr Horwood and get it reversed!”

“See also: http://tinyurl.com/7vtbd4t

So in theory GCC will make more money in Cheltenham with the new on-street charges, and resident's permit schemes. Will be interesting to see what the figures are in 12 months' time.

And re. CBC making £3.6m from off-street parking, let's hope they aren't rubbing their hands together thinking about how much more they could potentially make, if they pushed the fees up a little here, a little bit there...”

“The guys at the councils are doing whatever they can to ensure that they keep their jobs. No doubt pressure is put on them to increase revenue from car parking and that's exactly what they are trying to do. There's probably some cosy little deal with the manufacturers of the parking machines that we don't know about.

Whether or not the effect of their endeavours drives people out of town and the council ultimately looses revenue is not on their short term agenda. They don't care, they don't listen, they've got thick skins and most of them would never survive in an employed position outside of local government.

They're just a bunch of self serving jobsworths.”

“I believe it was CBC that extended the charging period from the standard times to 8AM-8PM in the town centre, leading to several voluntary and faith organisations feeling betrayed, due to their volunteers and users having to pay to park, when they otherwise wouldn't.

And another thing, CBC; When using your long-term off-street car parks and arriving after 8PM, it is no longer possible to buy a ticket for the next morning, when charging starts. So one either has to be there at 8AM (10AM on Sundays) - not usually possible due to church, work or sleep commitments - or risk a penalty. Or just park outside the charging boundaries (St Pauls and Pittville residents love this. Not).”

“@Matt1006 fair enough. Blind leading the blind”

“snorefest - CBC were in agreement with GCC - see http://tinyurl.com/79an2ho

Jim Daniels, from GCC - "We implemented the changes with full support from Cheltenham Borough Council...". So both County & Borough councils culpable.”

“I believe CBC opposed the proposals but were overruled by GCC. Matt1006 is correct in that that this is harming the town centre as a whole, not just Montpellier. For all the misguided accusations of snobbery, Montpellier is an area that offers visitors to Cheltenham something different and along with a vibrant Promenade and High Street, makes the town an attractive proposition for shoppers. The parking farce will damage the town centre rather than just Montpellier sadly and I reckon GCC won't see this until it's too late. Besides all the out of town shopping is pretty lousy round here!”