Stratford councillors discuss parking markings at meeting
A MOVE towards greater equality in the car park used by the district council looks set to go ahead – but still saw the Tories accused of sour grapes.
Two Conservative councillors, including group leader Sarah Whalley-Hoggins (Brailes & Compton) put forward a motion in December to get rid of seven spots held for councillors in Church Street car park, opposite the council’s Elizabeth House headquarters. It was considered at this week’s meeting of the council’s cabinet with a final decision to be taken at the full council meeting later this month.
During the week the car park is not open to the public between 8am and 4pm, with spaces available for council staff, councillors and Elizabeth House tenants, with permits.
That will not change – but the motion aims to get rid of the spaces marked out for five councillors, plus those for the leader of the council and the chair. There was agreement on scrapping this – and on the need for more disabled spaces – but Cllr Lorraine Grocott (Lib Dem, Stratford Avenue) said: “Obviously I support the move to extend the essentially egalitarian culture of this organisation but I just wonder why this has come up as a priority now when the previous administration have been in power for 22 years.”
And there was a tetchy exchange when council leader Cllr Susan Juned (Alcester East) referred to the likely cost of £1,000 set out in the officer’s report to remove the markings, adding that she had never used the space marked for the leader.
She said she did not want to see taxpayers’ money used for this and would contribute to the cost – and invited Cllr Whalley-Hoggins if she would like to chip in as well.
Cllr Whalley-Hoggins said the markings could just be allowed to disappear, so no budget was needed – people should just to be told of the change. And she added: “I find it somewhat galling that you are suggesting £1,000 is a waste of council money when in fact you are proposing all of this green money being spent (in the 2024-25 council budget), and £250,000 on HVO (new bin lorries that run on vegetable oil), but we will wait for full council before we debate that thoroughly and properly.”
A statement to the Herald after the meeting said since being elected to the council in 2019, Cllr Whalley-Hoggins had never used the designated spaces, which ‘clearly demonstrated favouritism towards elected members rather than hard working officers’. And she also claimed there was a risk to the safety of councillors by identifying specific spaces being used by them.
She added: “I am surprised that this state of affairs has been allowed to go on for so long, through so many different administrations without being challenged.”
