Price up 170%

9:47am Saturday 3rd June 2006

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Rush-hour on-street parking charges in Oxford are set to rise by 170 per cent - and will become some of the most expensive in the country.

Oxfordshire County Council wants to hike the hourly parking rate in 600 on-street spaces across the city from £1.50 to £4 between 8am and 10am, Monday to Saturday.

'If this isn't a variable congestion charge by any other name then I'll start to believe in the Tooth Fairy'

Keith Slater

And in the first review of on-street charges since 1998, the cost of a two-hour stay during the same time period will jump from £2.50 to £5.

After 10am, motorists will be charged £2 for one hour, or £3 for two hours.

The charges would make Oxford a more expensive place to park than Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster in London, and certainly one of the most expensive cities outside the capital.

The man introducing the charges, county council transport supremo David Robertson, said they were deliberately designed to drive early morning traffic off the roads.

However, critics have labelled the move a congestion charge in all but name.

Former Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce president Keith Slater said: "When I spoke about congestion charging some time ago the suggestion was firmly rejected by the county council, who indicated that it would never happen.

"If this isn't a variable congestion charge by any other name then I'll start to believe in the Tooth Fairy.

"David Robertson makes it quite clear from his comments the county council is keen to discourage people from using their cars to commute or to have early morning meetings in the city.

"So let's stop messing about and acknowledge we have a congestion problem, that variable pricing is the answer and do something about alternative provision."

Members of County Hall's transport implementation committee will meet on Thursday to rubber-stamp the new charges which, if approved, will come into effect on September 1.

The Oxford Mail has also been told the committee will agree to roll out the controversial pilot free on-street parking programme indefinitely, allowing motorists to park for free after 6.30pm and all day Sundays.

Oxford City Council leader John Goddard said: "Are they (county council) trying to throttle Oxford by forcing congestion into a narrower time band in the middle of the day?"

Waiving on-street parking charges in the pilot project that started in December last year is estimated to cost County Hall £500,000 a year. However, the authority has calculated the new daytime charges could generate £300,000 a year.

Paul Watters of the AA Motorist Trust said: "Clearly it's a demand management measure rather than parking charge but this is a congestion charge by another name."

The most recent figures available show County Hall paid Control Plus £1.3m to patrol on-street parking spaces in 2004/05, received £1.6m in pay-and-display income and £1.1m in fines.

Tory county councillor Mr Robertson said: "This is specifically to deter early morning traffic and encourage people to use Park-and-Ride. I realised that people would say Oh my God', but the purpose is not to raise money."