Traders' fears over roadworks and parking fee rise

A West Yorkshire business owner has said she could be forced to make the "devastating" decision to close down due to the double impact of major town centre redevelopment work and a big rise in parking fees.

Work on the 18-month £19.1m regeneration scheme in Brighouse began in January, while parking charges in the town are due to more than double in some car parks this weekend.

Lisa Jackson, who runs Buddies Fitness, said the parking price hike on top of the town centre work had led to a fall in trade, with the future now looking "very difficult".

A Calderdale Council spokesperson said there was "never a right time to implement a change" and there would still be "plenty of parking options".

A number of changes to parking rules were due to be implemented this month across Brighouse, Elland, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden, according to the council.

Plans included new charges on streets and in car parks, longer charging hours in busy towns and shorter hours in quieter ones.

This month's increase follows a previous 400% rise in some town centre parking charges - where fees for "premium" on-street spaces in Brighouse went up from 40p to £2 per hour.

Calderdale Council said the changes would help free up spaces in busy areas and make parking more consistent in the district.

The multimillion-pound redevelopment work in the town centre, funded by the government's Towns Fund, has also seen traffic flow in some areas changed, with some on-street parking spaces suspended as well as road closures introduced.

According to the Brighouse Town Deal Board, the aim of the project was to create "a more attractive, safer and cleaner town centre so those who shop, visit and enjoy spend longer, spend more and return often".

However, Jackson said that while before the price hike plans, she used to get about 20 to 25 people coming to each class at the Stage Academy on Commercial Street, that had now fallen to just two people on some occasions.

She explained that the money she received in fees for classes currently "just about covered the rent for the hall".

If revenue decreased further, she would be operating at a loss and "it wouldn't be a viable business", Jackson said.

"It's going to be very, very difficult and whether we will still be here, because it's just driving us down more and more."

Kirsty Devine, who opened a shop in Brighouse nine months ago, said alongside the redevelopment work being carried out and the rise in parking charges, she also faced an increase in business rates of more than 700%.

Devine said that while Brighouse "normally bucks the trend" and was a "fantastic little community town" which would benefit from the redevelopment work, "we are facing a lot of challenges".

"We've got the building works going on, parking charges going up, staffing costs going up and everybody's rates are going up," she said.

"It's just getting harder and harder to run a small business on the High Street."

Lesley Adams, a town centre florist and co-chair of Brighouse Business Improvement District, described increasing parking charges in the town as "the worst decision at the worst time".

Adams said that she welcomed the redevelopment of the town centre, which was "going to be really great", but claimed there had been no consultation over the parking charges increase.

Meanwhile, Oliver Blackburn, whose family has run the Websters furniture store in Brighouse since 1865, said footfall at the shop had recently reduced by about half.

Blackburn said his great great grandfather would be "turning in his grave".

He called on the council to reduce the parking charges - or, alternatively, offer free parking for an hour, which he said would "encourage shoppers to use the town".

Blackburn cited areas such as Wakefield where late last year councillors re-introduced two hours' free parking at council-run car parks across the district.

He added that he was also "very concerned" the redevelopment works would end up taking longer than the planned 18 months.

But Blackburn said he wanted to stress that Brighouse was still "very much open for business".

Roger Davies, a Brighouse-born artist and musician who opened a shop selling his artwork in the town centre in November, said the rise in parking charges was "bad timing".

He added that he thought access "hadn't really been affected at all" and traders were "going to have to muddle through, come together".

"Brighouse has got a great community - everybody looks after each other - so we're going to have to try and get through this period of time," he said.

Responding, the Calderdale Council spokesperson said the authority did "appreciate people's comments" about the timing of the planned changes to parking charges in Brighouse.

"This is a major investment, based on consultation with local people over a number of years, to support a thriving future for the town," they said.

"The planned changes to charges are in response to demand for parking spaces and will introduce consistency across the borough, while recognising the individual needs of each distinct town."

However, the spokesperson said there was "never a right time to implement a change" and there would still be "plenty of parking options" for people.

Howard Blagborough, leader of the opposition Conservative group and chair of the Brighouse Town Deal Board, said people would "see the benefit" once the pedestrianisation works had been completed.

"We always said, actually, if the pedestrianisation doesn't work we will review it and the barriers will go down, but we've got every confidence this will work and be a success - and people will actually love it," he said.

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