There's nothing more likely to get people exercised than car parking. And, today, we see the start of a six-week scheme to increase the car park capacity at our county hall. This will have an impact on existing alternative town car parks, especially as the staff with displaced cars have been specifically asked not to use the craft centre.
But the main issue is a possible re-emergence of the debate about whether or not Denbighshire council employees should have free parking.
This would not be an issue were the cost of parking to be viewed by residents as reasonable. Few Ruthinians see it as such. In seeking a reduction in charges, they cite its impact on repeat visitors. Personally, I reckon this is an over-exaggerated, as tourists expect to pay for parking as part of their package.
When others in the town centre must pay for parking, why then should employees have this free benefit? That is the crux of the argument. It's a valid one, till you understand the importance of several hundred reasonably well paid employees who, at lunch if at no other time, help sustain the economy of the town. The fact that county hall is located here means that a proportion of them will live and shop locally. Few towns of 5,500 can boast such a source of good employment and, let's be very honest, without it the town would really struggle. The council is by far the major employer. Just think about the impact on shops, tradespeople, housing prices and local schools.
Consider, then, what may happen were the offices to be located off-cite, some distance from the town or, worse, not in Ruthun/Ruthin at all. And let's be clear: Rhuthun is not the ideal location for existing let alone any future council administration: let's suppose there will be a future reorganisation. Rhuthun will be too far from those the council needs to serve. It's a wonder that the central administration is here at all. Let's be thankful it is.
Consider, then, what may happen were the offices to be located off-cite, some distance from the town or, worse, not in Ruthun/Ruthin at all. And let's be clear: Rhuthun is not the ideal location for existing let alone any future council administration: let's suppose there will be a future reorganisation. Rhuthun will be too far from those the council needs to serve. It's a wonder that the central administration is here at all. Let's be thankful it is.
And, if any employer wants to provide free parking, they can. Any of them. They can buy their employees season tickets if they so wish. Not that county hall is actually "free", as it comes at a land cost.
Let us not forget that staff, if faced with the current £3.50 all-day levy, will change their behaviour. This will be to the detriment of the town. They will come in early, abandon county hall and park anywhere where there is a free space. The craft centre will need managing (it is a condition of the centre's grant that it offers free parking) and this will become choked. Residential streets within walking distance will also fill up, to the disadvantage of those who live there. It's also possible that there would be a string of cars along Lôn Parcwr, causing chaos.
I wonder, though, whether Denbighshire should look to neighbouring Flintshire for a solution. Yr Wyddgrug/Mold's Llwynegrin administration campus (as it seems to be called) hosts hundreds of cars each day and sometimes, during busy court days especially, there are no spaces. For just over a year, the premises are now the subject of a car parking charge. Shire hall is nowhere near the town centre of Yr Wyddgrug itself, so the decision to charge cannot be as a result of town centre pressure (rather, it seems to be a reaction to new parking charges introduced about two years ago at Bwcle/Buckley and Treffynnon/Holywell). It's rather a captive market. Unions saw it as a tax to come to work.
What Flintshire has done is levy a shire hall 50p per day charge as is the case in the town centre but it sells a permit at the equivalent of a little over £1 a month to employees. OK, if adopted in Denbighshire, that is a very minimal or nominal amount but it does mean that the site can be a designated pay & display parking ground. This would result in a revenue stream, as charges would apply to county hall visitors and it would make the car park legitimately available for members of the public who could use it alongside any other in Rhuthun.
Were this to happen—and we still feel that the car park will continue to be free to employees—then the next issue would be complaints from those who have to pay for parking to meet education or social services staff. Some of these will by their nature be vulnerable people and they, too, will complain...
I wonder, though, whether Denbighshire should look to neighbouring Flintshire for a solution. Yr Wyddgrug/Mold's Llwynegrin administration campus (as it seems to be called) hosts hundreds of cars each day and sometimes, during busy court days especially, there are no spaces. For just over a year, the premises are now the subject of a car parking charge. Shire hall is nowhere near the town centre of Yr Wyddgrug itself, so the decision to charge cannot be as a result of town centre pressure (rather, it seems to be a reaction to new parking charges introduced about two years ago at Bwcle/Buckley and Treffynnon/Holywell). It's rather a captive market. Unions saw it as a tax to come to work.
