The “disgusting” and “dangerous” state of the Royal Harbour multi-storey car park in Ramsgate should make it exempt from a 10% hike in parking charges, say Labour and Green councillors.
The issue was raised at a Thanet council meeting on Thursday (February 9) during a budget discussion.
Thanet council is imposing a 10% rise broadly across all fees and charges, including off-street parking, as part of the authority’s 2023/24 budget.
But Labour leader Rick Everitt proposed an amendment to freeze charges at the Leopold Street car park in light of its disgusting state, issues with antisocial behaviour and lifts that have not worked since before the pandemic.
The lift are boarded up, meaning people either take the stairs or, if they are disabled or have a pushchair/pram, they are forced to use the vehicle ramps to change floors.
The fire doors at the site are also in poor repair, the structure suffers areas of ‘concrete cancer’ and there are often pools of water inside after rain.
Cllr Everitt suggested using £20,000 of the funding allocated for seaweed removal to cover the loss of revenue as a result of freezing parking prices at the site.
Branding the multi-storey “an embarrassment for the town” he added that £332,000 had been allocated for lift repairs in 2021 when the council was Labour-led.
The leadership of the council was taken over by the Conservatives in Summer of that year. The £332k remains in council reserves but the lifts have not yet been repaired and remain boarded up.
New fire doors and concrete works are planned but there is no published schedule for lift repairs as yet.
Cllr Everitt said people being forced to use the vehicle ramps was “a basic failing of health and safety of which this council should be ashamed.”
He added: “This car park in its current state does not merit a 10% increase. It is deteriorating and offers worse facilities and the pricing should reflect that.”
His call was backed by Tricia Austin, from Thanet Green Party, who said the issues needed to be dealt with “as a matter of urgency.”
After the meeting Cllr Austin said: “The state of the car park is shocking: pedestrians and wheelchair users having to use the ramps creates a real safety hazard, and it’s dirty and smelly, giving a terrible impression to visitors. I’ll be writing to the Cabinet member and Head of Service again tomorrow to ask for a timescale for urgently needed improvements.
“We were promised a parking review 18 months ago but nothing has happened, so it was good to hear last night that it’s finally about to begin. It’s vital that residents and traders across the Isle are consulted, so everyone’s voice is heard.
“Our strategy must include making our car parks affordable and attractive, so people park there rather than on our narrow streets, and making our towns and villages safer and more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists so more people have the option not to drive, so our streets aren’t clogged with traffic and our air is cleaner.”
However, Cabinet member for finance David Saunders and council leader Ash Ashbee said the charges could be looked at as part of an upcoming parking review rather than reducing the amount of money earmarked for seaweed removal around the Thanet coast.
Cllr Ashbee added: “It is a disgusting car park but I fail to see how £20,000 is going to help things. What we need is a sustainable future for the car park.”
She said it needed to “earn its living” rather than have money thrown at it which could then be reinvested.
Cllr Saunders branded the multi-storey an ‘architectural disaster’ and said keeping the charges at the current level would be considered during the parking review which is due to get underway in April. He added that it was unfortunate the proposal had not been brought up earlier in the budget process.
Thanet council currently pays annual rent for the multi-storey in excess of £200,000 (2017 figures) per year. As part of the financing arrangements for the construction of Thanet’s multi storey car parks in the 1970s the council owned sites at Mill Lane and Leopold Street were leased to a finance company. The finance company funded the construction and then leased them back to the council from 1977,recouping their investment in the form of rents.
The council plans to buy the Leopold Street site in 2025/26. The £3million-plus purchase had been planned for 2020 but did not take place. The option to buy must now wait for the site’s next 5-yearly rent review in 2025.
If the site isn’t bought, Thanet council is contracted to continue to pay rents, insurance and to carry out repairs and maintenance until 2073.
The budget amendment to freeze the parking fees was not passed but may still be put in place following the review which is expected to be completed by June.
