Town councillors clashed in a debate over whether they should be entitled to free parking permits to use on Allerdale Borough Council controlled car parks in Keswick.
Mayor Cllr Steve Harwood had proposed that the town council applies to the borough council for the permits to allow members to attend meetings throughout the year, close to venues in the town, without being charged to park.
“As town councillors receive no remuneration or expenses in giving their time to serve the local community, I consider this to be a reasonable request to make it easier to attend meetings in the town throughout the year,” said Cllr Harwood. “It should be noted that meetings are mostly held at times when car parks are not full so there would be no loss of income.
“It would ease the pressure with on-street parking, which is currently used by councillors, but not very convenient in bad weather conditions.”
He said that the arrangement should be continued by the new Cumberland Council from April 1.
But his proposal was not well received by all councillors with Cllr Paul Titley describing it as “a terrible idea”.
“People in the town already think we have all got our noses in the trough and here we are trying to invent a little tiny trough,” he said. “I don’t think this is a good look at all given that we are just putting the precept up by seven per cent.
“It’s not a good look saying: ‘Can we have a few bob please because we don’t get any money’,” and added: “As mayor you do get a grant and you do have an opportunity to cover those costs.”
Cllr Harwood responded by saying that he was not thinking of himself but the issue had been raised by other people. “They think it’s unfair that we can’t park on Bell Close on a heavy rain night.”
The mayor of Allerdale, Cllr Allan Daniels said he supported the proposal but did not think it would be looked upon favourably as he had attempted to get a similar arrangement with voluntary car drivers, but it had been refused.
“I don’t know whether there would be any chance of this happening or not,” he said. “It’s not going to make a difference to Allerdale Borough Council because it is night time and nobody patrols the car parks at night.”
Cllr Duncan Miller said he was “a little bit like Paul” and that “it does not seem a good look in terms of timing.” He said that he had been a member of an organisation and a person was given a free parking space and it was used by his wife and it caused all sorts of problems.
He asked, if councillors were to be given free permits, how would it be policed?
Cllr Louise Dunn suggested a “middle way” and recommended that the council ask for day permits instead. This found favour with councillors who suggested that day permits be applied for covering 18 town council and park trust meetings.
Councillors felt this should be done immediately “to get it in the system” for when the new Cumberland administration takes over.
