06/05/2026
Iโve noticed a pattern this election: โpromisesโ that sound good on the surface, but once you dig into the legislation or the costs, I can absolutely guarantee these will either not be kept, or will push our borough into financial chaos.
Letโs talk about โfree parkingโ, because I know why it sounds appealing, and Iโve just been challenged for not supporting it in South Shields.
First, there is no such thing as free parking.
Scrapping parking charges in the town centres and on the foreshore would cost the council around ยฃ1.36m a year. That money has to come from somewhere, and the most likely route is a council tax increase of around 1.7%. That is a rise for every household, right across the borough.
The evidence is also clear that free parking does very little for town centres. UK and international studies consistently show that walkability, the quality of the public realm, the retail and leisure mix, and parking turnover are the real drivers of a flourishing town centre. The price of parking has little to no measurable impact.
South Shields is no exception. Our challenges have very little to do with parking, and far more to do with anti-social behaviour, a limited business mix, and changing consumer habits.
Instead of cutting parking charges, we need to be diverting resources into Community Responders as a priority to tackle the ASB, and making sure every policy across the council is pulling in the same direction for our town centres. Any savings the council does find from genuine waste need to be reinvested carefully into the things that actually move the dial, or we stay stuck.
Council finances are not a political game. The financial failure of a local authority has severe consequences for every resident, and that point sadly seems to have been entirely lost in this yearโs campaign.
For the record: I completely support freezing parking charges, and I have consistently voted against increases. What I wonโt do is bare-faced lie to residents and make promises I know are fiscally irresponsible, or outright impossible, just to win votes. Iโd rather lose my seat than be elected on a mandate I know canโt be delivered.
