Bedford Borough Council’s executive has been accused of another ‘u-turn’ after it scrapped Sunday parking charges just days after they were introduced, saying it was nothing more than a “discrepancy”.
Bedfordians, councillors and business owners reacted with shock at the news this weekend that the Council had introduced Sunday and evening parking charges in their car parks without any warning.
Parking in council-owned car parks has been free on Sundays since 2014. Mayor Tom Wootton (Conservative) pledged to introduce more free parking in his election manifesto in 2023, and the Council’s Executive confirmed at a meeting on 20 November 2024 that Sunday parking will remain free throughout 2025.
However, shoppers visiting any of the town’s council-owned car parks yesterday (Sunday) were in for a shock when they faced a £2 parking fee.
Laura Holmes, who runs the Sunday flea market in St Paul’s Square, said: “I was really disappointed to see that the council had introduced a parking charge on Sundays.
“For the past four years of running the thriving Bedford Flea, Affordable Art and Local Produce market on a Sunday, we have always been able to promote free parking to encourage people to visit us and the town centre.
“It was written on every post we put out and was a bonus to the businesses trading with us too, who needed to park their vehicles all day.
“A £2 charge might not seem like much on its own, but generally, people visiting Bedford on a Sunday are doing so because they want to rather than for necessity.
“When parking was free, coming into town for a walk around the market, the shops or to stop at a cafe was a ‘sure, why not?’ and now I fear it may become a ‘why bother?’.
“Many businesses and individuals like myself are trying incredibly hard to bring footfall back into the town centre and then the council decide to do this. It’s just so frustrating.
“The Sunday bus services are already almost non-existent and now they add a Sunday parking charge – baffling.”
“Chaotic”
The leader of Bedford’s Liberal Democrat group, cllr Henry Vann, likened the move to a u-turn, describing the series of events as “chaotic.”
He told the Bedford Independent: “Under this Mayor, the council seems to lurch from one chaotic mistake to another. It was not a ‘discrepancy’ to change all the car parking machines and signs to introduce a Sunday charge – that took time and organisation.
“This was an attack on local residents and businesses. They have only backed down now following outrage from residents and after we challenged them that this was an undemocratic secret decision.
“What about refunding all the people who paid the £2 when they didn’t need to? And even now, they haven’t commented on the introduction of the evening charge – are they backing down on this as well?
“If it’s not wasting £338,000 on Oasis and then closing it, or paying £455,000 over the valuation for property, then it’s chaos like this we get from the Conservatives running the Council.”
Overnight parking charges
While Sunday parking charges have been overturned, business owners have told the Bedford Independent that changes to overnight parking costs will disproportionately affect the town’s nighttime economy.
Gareth Barber, owner of live music venue Esquires on Greyfriars, said: “This is going to have a really negative effect on Esquires and the other nighttime industry businesses in the area.
“Our staff rely on the [Greyfriars] car park to get to and from work safely, as well as many of our customers.
“In 2024, we sold over 22,000 tickets to events here, with 73% of our customers travelling from outside Bedford postcodes, in turn helping the rest of the nighttime economy. This is a further barrier to encouraging people into our town and nothing but greed from the council.
“It’s a poor decision in a long line, adding further stress to what is a really hard time for business.”
Harpur ward Labour councillors Colleen Atkins and Zara Layne said they were “shocked and surprised” at the charges being rolled out across Bedford “without prior notice, let alone consultation.”
“These introductions are seemingly at odds with the Mayor’s manifesto commitment to roll out free parking in the town centre and have been introduced under the radar. Residents are rightly outraged,” they said.
“As councillors for Harpur ward, we have been engaging with officers over the parking situation in Black Tom for many years and are acutely aware that residents are forced to rely on facilities such as Foster Hill Road car park.
“We are dismayed and hugely disappointed about this latest unilateral move by the Mayor and will be challenging it alongside other affected ward councillors.”
This afternoon (6 January), the council confirmed that it was reversing plans to charge for overnight parking at the Foster Hill Road car park.
It is unclear whether other overnight parking charges will also be overturned.
“Discrepancy”
In a statement to the Bedford Independent, a spokesperson for Bedford Borough Council said: “We are aware of a discrepancy in the fees and charges update that took effect on 1 January 2025 regarding Sunday parking charges.
“To clarify, while the update referenced a £2 daily charge, the Council’s Executive confirmed on 20 November 2024 that Sunday parking will remain free this year, as it was in 2024.”
They also confirmed that anyone caught out by the sudden charge who received a parking fine could get that ticket cancelled.
“If you received a parking fine for a Sunday car park infringement, please contact us, and we will cancel the charge where appropriate,” they added.
“We apologise for any confusion and appreciate your understanding.”
Despite blaming the charges on a “discrepancy”, the council’s website and signage at all car parks had been updated with the fees.
The website has since been amended after the Bedford Independent passed on complaints from its readers.
