A PETITIONER calling for free car parks in town on Saturdays has slammed ministers for their “depressing” rejection of his proposal.
Ben Shenton criticised ministers’ comments – as his petition exceeded the 1,000 threshold for a reply – saying they “would rather let St Helier retail die and spend money on strategy papers and idealistic dreams”.
Responding to Mr Shenton’s call for the government to make all their car parks free on Saturday, ministers said the move would not benefit the overall economy and could push up the cost of parking on weekdays.
“While there has been some increase in commercial vacancies and footfall is still recovering post-Covid, Jersey’s town centre continues to have a positive performance compared to the situation nationally. Data from previous free parking trials and studies shows that offering free parking on Saturdays would merely shift spending from other out-of-town activities, reduce bus ridership, and harm the environment, to the detriment of the Island’s overall economy,” they argued.
In the absence of additional funding they said it would mean either reduced investment in projects such as the forthcoming Charles Street car park or a rise in overall parking charges, and could also be used by shop workers and residents rather than shoppers.
Ministers said their preference – and the objective of the States’ carbon neutral road map – was to encourage increased bus travel.
“Studies have shown that visitors to town travelling by bus generally intend to spend more money than motorists. Increasing the number of visits by bus therefore has the potential to be of more benefit to both the hospitality and retail sectors,” they said.
But Mr Shenton, a former Senator, described the claim that those using buses spent more than motorists as “a joke”.
“I would love to see the research that backs this nonsense up. Perhaps they should have pointed out that politicians and many civil servants have had free parking on Saturdays for decades – which probably includes the person who wrote the reply. Maybe they should get rid of that if free parking is so bad. If they offered free parking on Saturdays, with a four-hour limit, they would certainly encourage more trade but they would rather let St Helier retail die and spend money on strategy papers and idealistic dreams,” he said.
He added that the suggestion the free parking would “merely shift spending from other out-of-town activities” simply amounted to an acceptance that they would spend more in town.
