Council faces calls to expand residents' discount parking scheme

Windsor and Maidenhead council has not ruled out expanding its residents’ discount parking scheme after it has been introduced in April.

Those living in the borough are set to benefit from one hour of free parking at six council car parks under the new scheme.

The discount will cover Grove Road and West Street car parks, in Maidenhead, Alma Road and Alexandra Gardens in Windsor, Horton Road in Datchet and Meadow Lane in Eton.

The scheme will cost the local authority £135,000.

But opposition councillors have urged the Tory-run authority to go further by offering discount at other popular car parks including Hines Meadow in Maidenhead and Victoria Street in Windsor.

Councillor Gurch Singh (Lib Dems, St Mary’s) told a cabinet meeting on Thursday: “Hines Meadow and Broadway car parks don’t appear to have been included on this scheme.

“They’re the two main car parks in the town centre in Maidenhead and I think it would be very important to offer people an incentive to come into Maidenhead.”

Council leader Andrew Johnson responded: “I hear what you say about Hines Meadow and Nicholsons and maybe there is a potential in the future to consider expansion.

“Both West Street and Grove Rd have been chosen on hard data and I think from the conversations I’ve had those are favoured car parks for their nature of being surface car parks and being closely accessible to the town centre.”

Amy Tisi (Lib Dems, Clewer East) also questioned whether Alma Road and Alexandra Gardens were venues that drivers in Windsor regularly used.

The deputy leader of the council Samantha Rayner (Con, Eton and Castle) also admitted she was ‘disappointed’ Windsor’s Victoria Street car park had been excluded from the scheme.

Cabinet member for parking, Councillor David Cannon, said the initiative will be reviewed to see what the take-up is from residents.

Residents will need to apply for a discount permit at each individual car park via the RingGo app and anyone needing help with the application process can seek support at any of the Royal Borough’s libraries.

Approval for each application will be handled by the Windsor and Maidenhead council to verify the address of each applicant.

It is expected that residents will be able to register two vehicles for each application with the discount available for each vehicle once per day.